Government-backed line of credit enables export-financed supply of solar home systems subject to 75% domestic sourcing and EDF reporting.
Exim Bank's Government-supported Line of Credit to Guyana finances procurement and installation of 30,000 solar home systems, requiring at least 75 percent of goods, works and services to be supplied from India and permitting up to 25 percent procurement from outside India. The agreement is effective from February 14, 2022, with a terminal utilization period of 60 months; shipments must be declared in the Export Declaration Form. No agency commission is payable under the LoC, though exporters may pay commission from their own resources or EEFC balances after realization, subject to existing instructions.

Extension of time to apply for revocation of cancelled GST registration: interim procedure lets authorities grant extensions for sufficient cause.
Interim procedure: applicants seeking revocation of cancelled registration after 30 days but within 90 days must request extension to the proper officer by letter or e-mail; the proper officer forwards the request to the jurisdictional Zonal Incharge, who may extend the time on sufficient cause with reasons recorded in writing or grant a personal hearing before decision. Acceptance is communicated to the proper officer, who then processes the revocation application; the same steps apply for requests made between 60 and 90 days. Guidelines remain until GST portal functionality is available.

Revocation of registration cancellation deadlines may be extended on sufficient cause through a prescribed administrative request process.
Extension of time for revocation of cancellation of GST registration is available where registration has been cancelled by the proper officer on its own motion. A registered person may apply in FORM GST REG-21 within 30 days of service of the cancellation order. On sufficient cause being shown and reasons recorded in writing, the Joint or Additional Commissioner may allow an extension not exceeding 30 days, and the Commissioner may allow a further extension not exceeding 30 days.

GST exemption for educational catering covers school and Anganwadi food services regardless of government grants or corporate donations.
Catering services supplied to educational institutions, including pre-schools and schools, are exempt from GST, with the exemption expressly covering mid-day meal services. Anganwadis are treated as educational institutions because they provide pre-school non-formal education. Accordingly, food-serving and catering services supplied to Anganwadis, including mid-day meals, are exempt irrespective of whether funding comes from government grants or corporate donations.

GST exemption for road access annuities does not extend to deferred payments for road construction services.
Entry 23A exempts annuity consideration only for access to a road or bridge under heading 9967. Road construction is classified separately under heading 9954, including construction of highways, streets, roads, bridges and tunnels. Where road-construction consideration is partly paid upfront and partly through deferred annual instalments called annuities, the payment structure does not change the nature of the service. Consequently, deferred annuity payments for road construction do not qualify for the exemption applicable to road-access annuities.

GST exemption for examination services covers entrance fees and related inputs, while accreditation and registration services remain taxable.
Central and State Educational Boards are treated as educational institutions only for conducting examinations for students, including entrance examinations. GST is exempt on examination services and fees charged for those examinations. Input services relating to admission or examination conduct, such as online testing, result publication, and printing examination materials, are also exempt when supplied to such Boards. Other services, including accreditation or registration of institutions or professionals for authorisation purposes, remain taxable at 18%.

Works contract services for tourism ropeways supplied to Government Entities attract standard GST rather than concessional treatment.
The concessional GST rate for composite works contracts supplied to Government Entities excludes works intended for commerce, industry, business, or profession. The exclusion of public-authority activities from business applies only to the Central Government, State Government, and local authorities, not to Governmental Authorities or Government Entities. Tourism ropeway construction is business-oriented, is not covered by entries concerning roads, bridges, terminals, or railways, and falls under entry 3(xii), attracting GST at 18%.

Government loan guarantees for undertakings and PSUs remain GST-exempt when loans are obtained from banks or financial institutions.
Government loan-guarantee services supplied by the Central Government, State Government or Union Territory to their undertakings or public sector undertakings are exempt from GST. The exemption applies where the guarantees relate to loans taken by those undertakings or PSUs from banking companies or financial institutions and is covered by Entry 34A of Notification No. 12/2017-State Tax (Rate).

Separately supplied irrigation-system laterals attract concessional GST treatment only when classifiable exclusively under the relevant equipment heading.
Separately supplied laterals and parts of sprinklers or drip irrigation systems attract the GST rate applicable to those systems where they are classifiable under the specified irrigation-equipment heading and are suitable solely or principally for such use. Parts of general use, if classifiable under another heading under the applicable Section and Chapter Notes, attract GST at the rate applicable to that respective heading.

GST refund calculation requires capped zero-rated export turnover to be used consistently in adjusted total turnover and refund claims.
Recipients claiming refund for deemed export supplies may avail input tax credit, but must debit the corresponding credit from the electronic credit ledger and confirm that the supplier has not claimed refund. Refund filing relaxation applies to specified zero-rated supplies wrongly reported in the relevant return table for tax periods through 31 March 2021, subject to the aggregate tax reported across applicable tables. For unutilised input tax credit refunds on zero-rated supplies, adjusted total turnover must include the same capped export-goods value used for turnover of zero-rated supply of goods.

PDS milling services qualify for exemption when goods component remains within prescribed threshold; otherwise job-work rate may apply.
Composite milling of wheat into flour, including fortification, or paddy into rice for the Public Distribution System is exempt where the value of supplied goods, including fortification inputs and packing material, does not exceed 25 per cent of the composite-supply value. Eligibility requires factual determination in each case. Where the goods component exceeds that threshold, the supply is taxable at 5 per cent if provided as job-work service to a registered person, including a person registered solely for tax deduction purposes.

UPI mechanism limit increase expands permitted blocked-funds threshold for debt public issue applications, facilitating uniformity and ease of investment.
The circular amends Chapters I and II of the Operational Circular to raise the permissible per-application limit for using the UPI mechanism to block funds for applications in public issues of non-convertible securities and related debt instruments. It modifies application-process provisions, intermediary responsibilities (including Sponsor Bank role) and affirms that UPI-based blocking via app/web interfaces and intermediaries is available for applications within the revised UPI limit. The amendments apply to public issues opening on or after May 1, 2022.

Customs brokers: expiry date optional; 365 days inactivity triggers automatic PAN India suspension; revocation via POLOFF/POLMGR.
ICES now permits customs broker licence registration without an expiry date, removing the requirement to extend licence dates in the System; if a broker files no documents in the Customs EDI System for 365 days from the later of last filing or registration, the System will automatically suspend the licence PAN India. Suspension and revocation functions remain available and revocation can be effected by users with POLOFF and POLMGR roles; operational guidance and screenshots are provided in Annexure A.

Unblocking of Input Tax Credit: officers must finalise probes and either create demands or unblock credits accordingly.
Rule 86A allows blocking of Input Tax Credit (ITC) and sub rule (3) causes such blocking to lapse after one year if no action is taken. Proper Officers must finalise investigations for ITC blocked beyond one year: where blocking remains justified, issue DRC 01 and create DRC 07 demands and then unblock and utilise credits against those demands; where blocking is no longer justified, unblock credits forthwith. For active or cancelled registrations, specific verification, show cause, demand creation and set off procedures are prescribed, with portal steps for utilising unblocked ITC.

GST refund processing requires officer assignment and adherence to prescribed online RFD timelines and verification before disbursement.
The circular requires all online GST refund applications to be hosted on the State back office portal and assigned by the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax to an STO/ASTO as the Refund Processing Officer for time bound processing. The RPO must verify completeness, prepare and forward appropriate draft RFD forms, undertake detailed verification and prepare show cause or hearing drafts where required, and submit draft disbursement instructions after sanction. Rejections must be re credited to the electronic ledger only after final disposal of appeals or upon an undertaking by the claimant.

Extension of Payment Time permits multi-month instalments for tax dues excluding self-assessed liabilities; power delegated to senior state tax officers.
Delegation under section 80 authorises the Special Commissioner of State Tax and the Additional Commissioner of State Tax to extend time for payment of tax dues by allowing monthly instalments, excluding liabilities self-assessed in returns; such powers are exercisable only within the officers' respective territorial jurisdictions and take effect immediately.

System Driven Disclosures automation streamlines takeover and encumbrance reporting, shifting filings to depository systems and enhancing transparency.
Automation under the Takeover Regulations extends System Driven Disclosures so depository-recorded transactions under Regulation 29 and 31 need no manual filing except for acquisitions with persons acting in concert, holdings in physical form, and entities without PAN or designated depository. All encumbrances must be recorded in the depository system with ultimate lender/trustee or debenture issuer details and reasons for encumbrance; depositories must enable recording of outstanding encumbrances by June 30, 2022. Depositories will provide data to exchanges for consolidation and dissemination; quarterly reconciliation by listed companies, exchanges and depositories is required; provisions effective July 01, 2022.

Bank Guarantee acceptance for release of detained consignments permitted; encashment deferred until statutory appeal process concludes.
Acceptance of a Bank Guarantee is permitted for release of goods detained under Section 129 even after issuance of MOV 09; officers must enter guarantees in a Register for Bank Guarantees and controlling officers must verify actions. Bank Guarantees shall be forwarded for encashment only after the statutory appeal period lapses if no appeal is filed, and where an appeal is filed encashment shall follow the appeal outcome. Instructions confirm joint and several liability of consignor, consignee, transporter and person in charge and permit removal of non defective consignments from parcel/courier premises.

Refund sanction on lower export value mandates comparing invoice and FOB shipping bill values and correcting excess refunds.
Refunds for zero-rated supplies made without payment of tax must be sanctioned on the lower of the GST invoice value and the corresponding shipping bill FOB value; officers must examine instances where higher invoice values were used resulting in excess refunds and take appropriate time-bound action to rectify and recover excess payments in accordance with law.

Time-bound show cause notice issuance preserves statutory adjudication deadlines for tax discrepancies, wrongful credits, refunds, fraud, and suppression.
Time-bound issuance of show cause notices is required to ensure completion of adjudication within statutory limitation periods for tax short payment, erroneous refunds, and wrongly availed or utilised input tax credit. Proceedings under Section 73 require notice at least three months before the order limitation, while fraud, wilful misstatement, or suppression proceedings under Section 74 require notice at least six months before that limitation. Ward and zonal in-charges should identify cases requiring notices and ensure timely completion of proceedings.