FII debt investment limit increase allows allocations on a first come first served basis and removes the equity debt ratio restriction.
The Government increased the cumulative limit for FII investments in corporate debt, and SEBI allocated the enhanced capacity to registered FIIs on a first come first served basis with a per entity ceiling; requests were to be sent to a dedicated SEBI email mailbox opening at 23:59 IST on October 20, 2008. SEBI also removed the regulation 15(2) restriction imposing a fixed equity to debt ratio, permitting FIIs immediate flexibility to allocate between equity and debt, with formal regulatory amendments to follow and custodians instructed to notify their FII clients.

Jurisdiction for appeals and objections above the pecuniary threshold reassigned among Additional Commissioners, with distinct functional portfolios.
Allocation of appellate, revisional and objection jurisdiction above the specified pecuniary limit is apportioned among three Additional Commissioners by zone under the CST Act, erstwhile DST Act and the DVAT Act, with each Commissioner also assigned discrete administrative and operational portfolios; matters already heard and reserved remain with the existing authority.

Facility management duties reassigned to Deputy Commissioner; additional duties assigned without extra remuneration effective immediately.
Responsibility for facility management was reassigned to Sh. Sanjiv Pandey, Deputy Commissioner (Zone VI), to be undertaken in addition to his existing duties without any extra remuneration, the appointment taking effect immediately following the relieving of the former Joint Commissioner and issued with the prior approval of the Commissioner of Trade & Taxes.

Single registration for CNG manufacturers enables consolidated compliance while duty and CENVAT tie to registered manufacturing premises.
Single registration is authorised for CNG manufacturers for all manufacturing premises under one Chief Commissioner, with jurisdictional extension of the registering Commissioner to other units for enforcement purposes. CENVAT credit is confined to inputs and capital goods used at registered compression premises; daughter stations are excluded. Duty must be based on quantity manufactured and cleared at the registered premises, and quantities filled into mobile cascades must be measured at point of filling using suitable measuring devices, with a possible three-month lead time for installation.

Deemed export consolidated applications permitted for project or recipient claims, filed within a year and not treated as supplementary claims.
Claims for deemed export benefits under para 8.3.1 must be filed as a single consolidated application for all claims arising in a chosen calendar month or quarter; for a particular project or recipient unit, consolidated applications for that period may be filed within twelve months from the period end, and such multiple applications will not be treated as supplementary claims under para 9.4 of HBP Vol. I.

Special currency basket value revision re-designates rupee valuation and directs authorised banks to implement and notify constituents.
Revision of the rupee valuation of the special currency basket was prescribed with a new rupee value effective from a stated date; Authorised Dealer Category I banks are directed to apply the revised valuation and notify their constituents. The directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and are without prejudice to other statutory permissions or approvals. The circular notes an earlier indicated rupee value that has been superseded by this revision.

Exposure margin adjustment for equity derivatives raises minimum requirement while retaining a volatility linked margin component.
The circular revises exposure margin for exchange-traded equity derivatives so that margin for notional gross open positions in single stock futures and gross short open positions in stock options is the higher of an increased fixed minimum or 1.5 times the standard deviation of daily logarithmic returns of the stock price, altering the margin computation for those instruments as a market-safety measure under regulatory powers to protect investors.

Overseas foreign currency borrowing limit doubled for authorised dealer banks to expand permitted access to overseas funds.
Authorised Dealer Category I banks may borrow overseas in foreign currency from their Head Office, overseas branches and correspondents and take overdrafts in nostro accounts up to 50 per cent of unimpaired Tier I capital as at the close of the previous quarter or USD 10 million (or its equivalent), whichever is higher; specified borrowings for export credit, subordinated debt as Tier II capital, innovative perpetual debt instruments and those with specific approval remain outside this limit.

Drawback shipping bill processing: second-site scrutiny removed for consignments carted to other CFS; examination delegated to CFS officers.
Noting, registration and data entry of manual drawback shipping bills at Dronagiri will continue, but scrutiny and physical examination for consignments carted out of Dronagiri shall be carried out by the Superintendent (in charge of examination) and the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the respective CFS or the AC/DC allocated that work, removing the duplicate second scrutiny by the AC(Export) at Dronagiri.

Line of Credit for export financing sets sourcing, shipment declaration and commission rules for eligible India exports under FEMA.
Exim Bank provided a Line of Credit of USD 20 million to Myanma Foreign Trade Bank to finance eligible goods, services and consultancy for an ACSR and galvanized iron wire plant in Myanmar; at least 85% of the contract price (excluding consultancy) must be supplied from India. The Credit Agreement is effective from September 19, 2008; LC and disbursement deadlines differ by contract type. Shipments must be declared on GR/SDF forms. No agency commission is payable under the LOC, though exporters may use their own funds or EEFC balances for commission payments subject to prevailing rules. Directions are issued under FEMA provisions.

Line of Credit supports export of Indian goods and services to finance Myanmar transmission projects, subject to FEMA compliance.
Exim Bank's Line of Credit finances exports of eligible goods and consultancy for specified Myanmar transmission projects, requiring compliance with India's Foreign Trade Policy and at least 85 per cent of contract value supplied from India; remaining non consultancy inputs may be procured abroad. The Credit Agreement is effective from September 19, 2008, with LC/disbursement deadlines of 48 months from project completion for project exports and 72 months from agreement execution for supply contracts.

Certificate validity for shipment extended, changing maximum permissible age of nominated-agency certificates and updating Handbook of Procedures.
Handbook of Procedures (Vol I) para 6.5.2 is amended to require that certificates issued by a nominated agency shall not be older than seven working days from the date of shipment, substituting the earlier three working days threshold and thereby changing the temporal validity requirement for nominated-agency certificates presented for export shipments.

CVD refund procedural clarifications: electronic invoices, CA certifications, and flexible ST/VAT proof accepted to expedite claims.
Clarifies procedural and evidentiary rules for refund of 4% CVD: claims allowed within one year of payment; field formations must process refunds within three months, publish claim status, and deface bills of entry on sanction. Electronic submission of sale invoices under the Information Technology Act is acceptable with a paper declaration. ST/VAT discharge by cash, authorised electronic modes, or input tax credit adjustment is acceptable when recognised by State law, supported by payment proof and a Chartered Accountant certificate correlating VAT payment to sales and CVD. Chartered Accountant certificates must arise from auditors who certify under Companies Act, State ST/VAT Act or Income Tax Act. Consignment sales and part sale claims have specified documentary and certification requirements.

Focus Product Scheme addition: small diesel piston engines now eligible for export benefits under amended Appendix.
The Director General of Foreign Trade amended Appendix 37D, Table 11 (K. New Additional Focus Products) to add Compression Ignition internal combustion piston engines (diesel) up to 20 H.P. capacity as a notified Focus Product, and declared that this product is entitled to Focus Product Scheme benefits for exports made with effect from 1.4.2008.

Import licensing for agglomerated stone sets eligibility, floor pricing and annual ceiling; licences subject to actual user and reporting.
Import of rough and unprocessed blocks and slabs of agglomerated and artificial stones is restricted to licensed manufacturers/processors who meet turnover-based eligibility and certification requirements. Licences will bear prescribed cif floor prices for blocks and slabs by origin, individual entitlements are allocated from a fixed annual ceiling on the basis of eligible turnover (with a turnover cap for large units), and all licences are subject to actual user condition and monthly import reporting to the Regional Licensing Authority.

Import licensing for agglomerated stone blocks and slabs: eligibility, floor pricing and pro rata allocation entitlement.
Licensing for import of Rough/unprocessed blocks and slabs of agglomerated/artificial stones is restricted; eligible units (excluding certain EOUs, SEZs and previously licensed units) must have a marble gang saw, be operational before 31.03.2001 and show specified indigenous sales turnover for three financial years. Licences will carry an endorsed floor price, be subject to a national import ceiling, and be allocated pro rata on average turnover with per-unit maximums tied to the number of gang saw machines. Licences are subject to actual user conditions, monthly reporting, prescribed application procedures and prior circular conditions.

GSP certificate issuance expanded: Development Commissioners at specified SEZs authorised to issue certificates for eligible units.
Amendment expands agencies authorised to issue GSP Certificate of Origin, authorising designated Development Commissioners at specified SEZs/EPZs to issue certificates for products manufactured by units and for EOUs within their jurisdiction, and to issue certificates to trading units that meet applicable GSP eligibility conditions, thereby updating Appendix 4-A of the Handbook (Vol. I).

External Commercial Borrowings policy: infrastructure definition expanded to include mining, exploration and refining, effective immediately.
The definition of the Infrastructure sector for External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) is expanded to include mining, exploration and refining with immediate effect; all other ECB policy parameters (Automatic Route conditions, eligible borrowers and recognised lenders, permitted end-uses, maturity, prepayment/refinancing and reporting) remain unchanged. Amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing or Lending in Foreign Exchange) Regulations, 2000 will be separately notified and AD Category I banks must inform their constituents. Directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Removal of restrictions on ODIs expands permitted use and signals regulatory amendment to FII regulations and custodial notice.
SEBI lifted restrictions on ODIs, effective from the close of market hours on October 07, 2008; custodians were directed to inform their FII constituents and SEBI indicated that amendments to the FII regulations would be effected, with the circular available on its website.

Refund status correction allows a second update when paid ECS refunds revert to unpaid, ensuring accurate AO visibility.
Enhancement of the OLTAS module permits a second status update for refund banker ECS transactions originally uploaded as PAID but later returned as UNPAID due to account errors or closure, enabling assessing officers to view corrected refund status. Technical steps require two full backups, suspension of users and schedulers during execution, downloading and running the specified patch from the given server and directory, and copying or backing up other executables on the file server; centres must report implementation status as instructed.