External Commercial Borrowings policy extends credit enhancement to domestic infrastructure debt, including maturity, fee, and cost caps.
Credit enhancement by eligible non-resident entities is permitted for domestic rupee denominated capital market instruments issued by infrastructure companies and RBI classified Infrastructure Finance Companies, subject to conditions: providers limited to multilateral/regional and government development institutions; minimum average maturity of seven years; no prepayment or call/put options up to seven years; guarantee fees capped at 2%; invocation and novation to eligible non-residents subject to applicable all in cost ceilings; IFCs must meet eligibility/prudential norms and fully hedge foreign currency designation; ECB reporting rules apply.

External Commercial Borrowings for Infrastructure Finance Companies allowed under approval route, subject to full currency hedging and indebtedness limits.
Infrastructure Finance Companies classified by the Reserve Bank may obtain External Commercial Borrowings under the approval route for on lending to the infrastructure sector, provided they comply with DNBS circular norms, fully hedge currency risk and ensure total outstanding ECBs including the proposed borrowing do not exceed fifty per cent of Owned Funds, with certification of compliance by Authorised Dealer Category I banks; other ECB policy provisions remain unchanged.

Infrastructure sector definition expanded for external commercial borrowings to include cold storage and pre cooling facilities, affecting ECB eligibility.
Expansion of the infrastructure sector for External Commercial Borrowings to include cold storage and cold room facilities, including farm level pre cooling, for preservation or storage of agricultural and allied produce, marine products and meat. All other aspects of the ECB policy, including automatic route limits, eligible borrower and lender criteria, end use, maturity, prepayment, refinancing, reporting arrangements and terms and conditions in the A.P. (DIR Series) Circulars, remain unchanged.

No demurrage on seized goods: production of a proper officer certificate prevents rent charges and requires compliance.
Regulation 6(1)(l) prohibits Customs Cargo Service Providers, including Container Freight Station custodians, from charging rent or demurrage on goods seized, detained, or confiscated by the proper officer. CCSPs must allow release on production of a certificate from the proper officer certifying the detention period and must not charge or collect any rent or demurrage for that certified period. Non compliance attracts penal action under the Regulations.

Nodal Officer appointment to coordinate license data transmission and resolve trade facilitation issues between Customs and counterparts.
Appointment of a Nodal Officer from Customs to coordinate with DGFT on license and data transmission issues; the officer will attend monthly PTFC meetings, liaise with DGFT officials to resolve trade and CHA difficulties, and escalate unresolved matters to the Commissioner (Exports) for higher-level action.

Tax deduction at source: banks need not withhold on CBS provisioning; withhold when interest is credited, accrued, or paid.
Banks using CBS that sweep interest into provisioning or suspense accounts for macro-monitoring only do not thereby effect constructive credit to depositors; therefore TDS need not be deducted on such daily/monthly provisioning. TDS is required when interest is actually accrued or credited to the depositor-at financial year end, at periodic intervals per bank practice or depositor request, on maturity, or on encashment-whichever occurs earlier, and when aggregate interest exceeds the statutory thresholds for withholding.

Customs exemptions and amendments streamline import duty relief and rescind select notifications affecting project imports and energy supplies.
Proposed customs amendments and exemptions span project import regulations, rescission of select notifications, duty and special CVD exemptions for electrical energy, concessional duty for solar project equipment, and targeted exemptions for films, software, mobile phone parts and related goods, summarising administrative actions to modify import duty treatment and compliance obligations.

Anti-dumping rules amended by customs circular altering notification and related trade notices and office instructions.
Amendment to customs regulatory framework modifying Anti-dumping rules by altering Notification 2/95 (01.01.1995) via Customs Explanatory Memorandum 18/2010 dated 26-2-2010, and directing consequential changes to circulars, trade notices, public notices, instructions and office orders for application in customs administration.

Central Excise notification amendments clarify exemptions and specify duty rates impacting excise treatment of selected goods.
Circular compiles proposed amendments to multiple prior Central Excise notifications and sets out specific substantive measures: specification of the excise duty rate under Section 3A for chewing tobacco and branded unmanufactured tobacco; proposed exemption from excise duty for equipment for initial solar power project set-up; proposed exemption for packaged and canned software; and proposed exemption for specified goods of chapter 24.

Excise rate increase prompts broad duty revisions, new clean energy cess and rule changes affecting exemptions and CENVAT credit.
The standard excise rate is increased with consequential chapter wise duty revisions, withdrawal of several exemptions and selective duty reductions; new levies including a Clean Energy Cess on domestic coal/lignite/peat and machine based levies for packed tobacco are introduced; procedural amendments clarify penalty non application where duty and interest are paid pre notice, relax settlement commission restrictions, permit quarterly payment/returns and remove invoice pre authentication, and CENVAT Credit Rules are amended to expand credit availment and reversal rules with some retrospective effect.

Amendments to Central Excise rules update CENVAT procedures and designate chewing and unmanufactured tobacco as notified goods requiring specific duty collection rules.
Seeks amendments to existing Central Excise Rules, 2002 and the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 to revise procedural and compliance provisions, and proposes to notify chewing tobacco and branded unmanufactured tobacco as notified goods, accompanied by Chewing Tobacco and Unmanufactured Tobacco (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Rules to govern capacity determination and duty collection for those commodities.

Service tax exemptions expand taxable coverage and reclassifications, altering abatements, definitions and export related rules.
Notifications amend and rescind prior instruments and provide targeted service tax exemptions, abatements and reclassifications: exemption for right to use packaged software; exemptions for transmission of electricity; transport related abatements and expanded road transport exemptions; exemption for specified technical testing and certification by notified seed agencies; exemptions for erection/installation of specified food grain handling, cold storage and agro processing equipment; and conditional exemption for certain online information and business auxiliary services by Indian news agencies.

Excise duty rate changes expand standard duties and restructure tobacco levies while introducing a clean energy cess and SSI reliefs.
The Finance Bill, 2010 revises Central Excise by raising the standard non petroleum excise rate and specific duties for cement, clinker and large vehicles, increases petrol and diesel levies per litre, restructures tobacco duties including composite and compounded levies and reporting requirements, introduces a Clean Energy Cess on coal as excise (and as CVD on imports), withdraws select exemptions while granting targeted full exemptions and concessional rates, extends SSI reliefs (immediate capital goods credit and quarterly payment eligibility), and enacts procedural amendments to Cenvat Credit and Central Excise Rules to simplify compliance and counter evasion.

Customs duty changes: targeted rate revisions, expanded exemptions and concessional project import treatment under Finance Bill 2010.
Proposed changes under the Finance Bill, 2010 and related notifications amend customs duty rates and exemptions effective from 26-27 February 2010 (with some legislative provisions effective on enactment). Key measures: introduction and increases in basic duty for petroleum products; higher duties on precious metals; expanded exemptions/refunds of additional duty for retail-packaged goods and specified items; notified project-import concessional rates; concessional or exempt treatment for specified capital goods, inputs and parts; procedural relaxation for sale/ redeployment of exempted road-construction machinery; and rationalisation of duty treatment for medical equipment and digital/film media, along with allied legislative amendments and reporting instructions.

Service tax expansion: new taxable services and scope clarifications reshape levy, exemptions and refund procedures.
Amendments expand the service tax net by adding eight new taxable services (including promotion of games of chance, employer paid health services, brand promotion, event exploitation rights, electricity exchange services, certain copyrights and builder special services) and by widening or clarifying scope of existing services (air passenger transport, IT software, commercial training, sponsorship, construction, renting of immovable property, airport/port and auctioneer definitions). Notifications modify exemptions, withdraw certain earlier exemptions, and revise procedural rules including retrospective and prospective changes to refund of accumulated CENVAT credit and penalty treatment where tax and interest are paid before notice.

Toilet and kitchen linen added to Focus Products, making specified HS codes eligible for export benefits under the trade policy.
Under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2009-14, two tariff entries were added to Appendix 37D, Table 4 effective for exports from 1 January 2010: HS 63026000 for toilet and kitchen linen of terry toweling or similar terry fabric of cotton, and HS 63029900 for toilet and kitchen linen of other textile materials, thereby listing these items as Focus Products eligible for export benefits under HBPv1 (Appendices and Aayat Niryat Forms).

Labeling of imported goods may be deferred and performed under bond, subject to verification before de-bonding.
Importers may defer statutory labelling by electing to label goods in bonded warehouse premises; they must ensure warehouse marking facilities and file Warehousing Bills of Entry. Customs will allow bonding without prior labelling with an endorsement that verification of markings will occur before de bonding. Labelling will be completed in the bonded premises and compliance verified at ex bonding by the Bond Superintendent via random examination, with an Examination Report endorsed on the ex bond Bill of Entry in hard copy and the EDI system.

Letter of Factory Stuffing Permission requiring prior verification and Central Excise NOC before issuance and strict monitoring.
Procedure requires prior verification and Central Excise NOC for issuance of Letter of Factory Stuffing Permission (LoFSP) to manufacturer, merchant, first time and seasonal exporters; excludes manufacturer exporters using free shipping bills; status holders receive provisional 30 day LoFSP pending verification; applications must include sealed verification report, Central Excise NOC, IEC copy and contact details; FSP Cell will cross check DGFT/Excise records and issue LoFSP within two days; LoFSPs are subject to six monthly review and cancellation on adverse reports or pending proceedings, and pre 2007 permissions must be revalidated.

Factory Stuffing Permission: prior verification, Central Excise NOC and IEC confirmation required before issuing LoFSP.
Procedure requires prior verification and documentary prerequisites before issuance of a Letter of Factory Stuffing Permission (LoFSP). LoFSP will be issued in prescribed format only after Central Excise NOC for deputation of supervisory officers, an original sealed verification report confirming existence and functioning of the unit, and IEC genuineness confirmation from DGFT. Manufacturer exporters under free shipping bills are excluded; non status exporters and merchant exporters require prior verification and NOC. Status holders may receive provisional LoFSP subject to submission of verification within a limited period, failing which permission is cancelled.

Electronic filing of Bills of Entry encouraged over Service Centre use; high-volume CHAs must migrate and Service Centre kept as contingency only.
Submission of Bills of Entry is to be migrated to electronic filing through ICEGATE, with the Service Centre reserved as a fallback only. CHAs filing fifty or more Bills of Entry monthly are required to adopt ICEGATE by the stated compliance date. The notice notes free availability of ICEGATE software, observes that higher-risk filings tend to use the Service Centre, and proposes LRM/RMS targets to discourage routine Service Centre use while urging all trade members to file via ICEGATE.