Tariff value amendment fixes revised import valuation benchmarks for specified oils, metals, scrap and agricultural commodities.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs, under Section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, amends Notification No. 36/2001 Customs (N.T.) by substituting TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 to prescribe revised tariff values in US dollars for specified imports, including palm oil and fractions, crude soybean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and gold and silver covered by specified notification entries, thereby fixing benchmark values for customs valuation of those goods.

Administrative continuity: Acting Chairperson appointed while former Chairperson receives contractual Adviser on Tax Reforms role.
Shri A.K. Jain, Member, CBDT will discharge the duties and responsibilities of the post of Chairperson in addition to his own duties until further orders following Ms. Anita Kapur's superannuation. Ms. Kapur is appointed on contract as Adviser on Tax Reforms for six months or earlier, with Terms of Reference to advise the Revenue Department on referred files, examine tax reform proposals using data, assist the committee re drafting certain Income Tax Act sections, and present policy views on direct taxation.

Official development assistance loan funds metro infrastructure projects and reinforces bilateral economic cooperation and strategic partnership.
An official development assistance loan from Japan finances Chennai and Ahmedabad metro projects via bilateral loan agreements between India's Department of Economic Affairs and the Government of Japan, providing concessional foreign financing for metro rail infrastructure to support urban transit improvements and environmental objectives.

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme gains strong retail uptake; measures strengthen Gold Monetisation Scheme and clarify tax exemptions.
The Government launched the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme to convert retail investment in physical gold into a government bond alternative and issued the first tranche through banks and post offices, attracting substantial retail subscriptions. The Gold Monetisation Scheme provides deposit and monetisation routes via CPTCs and licensed refiners; measures to boost participation include expanding CPTC registration, inviting jewellers to act as CPTCs with refiner tie ups, easing refiner experience requirements, permitting direct deposits to refiners, reimbursing banks' operational fees on actuals, clarifying tax exemptions, and continuing public awareness campaigns.

Advance Pricing Agreements provide transfer pricing certainty; CBDT expands unilateral APAs, some with rollback and multi-year coverage to foreign investors.
Advance Pricing Agreements are being deployed to secure transfer pricing predictability; the tax authority has signed eleven additional unilateral APAs with Indian subsidiaries of foreign companies, some containing rollback provisions and others providing multi year future coverage, thereby increasing the total number of APAs concluded under the APA programme introduced in 2012.

Income Computation and Disclosure Standards guidance sought; stakeholders invited to submit implementation issues for clarification.
The Central Government notified Income Computation and Disclosure Standards under Section 145(2) to standardise computation of income for business, profession and other sources. Stakeholders reported implementation ambiguities, and an expert committee is examining these issues. The government solicits submissions from stakeholders and the public identifying points needing further clarification to enable proper implementation; responses are to be sent to the specified contact and will inform preparation of comprehensive guidance.

Issue date change for Sovereign Gold Bonds to allow smooth application uploads and processing by post offices.
Issue date for Sovereign Gold Bonds was postponed to allow orderly uploading of a large volume of subscription applications into the central bank's electronic system, particularly by post offices; all other terms and conditions of the original notification remained unchanged and the subscription window for the first tranche stood as previously notified.

NPA resolution and balance-sheet clean-up urged for public sector banks, with government support and sectoral credit priorities.
Finance Minister directed Public Sector Banks to prioritise expedited balance-sheet clean-up by addressing legacy NPAs with government support and policy measures. Banks discussed measures to improve asset quality and profitability, develop niche banking, and pass on rate reductions. Operational expectations included accelerating agricultural credit to meet growth and account targets, adopting the Vidya Lakshmi educational loan portal and credit guarantee arrangements, expanding priority-sector housing lending, and enhancing Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana outreach through publicity, skills linkages, and financial-literacy programs.

Public Sector Bank performance review to assess priority lending, financial inclusion delivery and sectoral funding commitments.
Review of Public Sector Banks' operational performance focusing on Priority Sector lending, quarterly results, and delivery of financial inclusion initiatives including financial literacy, PMMY, and insurance and pension scheme roll-outs; participating ministries will examine sectoral financing commitments for MSME, renewable energy, food processing Special Fund utilization, textiles revival and sericulture credit, and SHG credit linkage.

Phasing out tax exemptions and deductions to lower corporate tax rate invites stakeholder comments on proposed implementation.
The Government proposes reducing corporate tax while implementing a systematic phasing-out of exemptions and deductions, targeting profit linked, investment linked and area based deductions for corporate and non corporate taxpayers, discontinuing weighted deductions, preserving existing statutory sunset dates, and introducing a uniform sunset date for incentives lacking terminal dates; details are on the tax department website and stakeholders are invited to comment to the designated Director.

PPP policy reform recommends review of contractual risk allocation and capacity building to improve project implementation.
A committee was tasked to revisit the PPP policy to review contract variations and sectoral difficulties, analyse sectoral risks and existing frameworks for risk sharing between developers and government, propose contractual design modifications based on international best practices and India's institutional context, and recommend measures to improve government capacity for effective PPP implementation; it conducted stakeholder consultations and submitted its report to the Finance Minister for government consideration.

Exchange of tax information expanded to include bank data and authorized cross border sharing with law enforcement.
The Protocol amends the India-Kuwait Agreement to implement internationally accepted standards for the exchange of information on tax matters, expressly including bank information and information without domestic tax interest, and permits sharing information with other law enforcement agencies only with authorization of the competent authority of the providing State.

Lines of Credit continuation with government-backed interest equalisation support sustaining concessional lending and sovereign guarantees.
Second extension of the Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme continues concessional Lines of Credit to developing countries for five years, with yearly budgetary provision by the Department of Economic Affairs for Interest Equalisation Support to lending banks covering existing and new LoCs. Project selection involves MEA diplomatic vetting and a Standing Committee review, followed by External Affairs Minister recommendation and DEA/Finance Minister sanction; LoCs are operated through Exim Bank or another approved lending agency, with recipient sovereign guarantees and government-provided IES and further guarantees to the lending bank.

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund governance established with a Minister led Governing Council to approve investment and manager parameters.
Creation of a contributory, determinate investment trust, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, to attract domestic and international capital for commercially viable infrastructure projects, with the relevant Ministry Secretary as Settlor. A Minister led Governing Council is constituted to oversee the Fund and to approve guidelines for investment of the Fund corpus, parameters for appointment and performance of investment managers and advisors, and related or incidental matters.

Extension of committee tenure allows continued industry engagement on tax law clarifications and mandated agency response.
The High Level Committee's tenure has been extended to continue industry consultation to identify ambiguities in tax laws and to recommend clarifications. The HLC will collect stakeholder issues and propose explanatory instruments such as circulars and instructions, which the central tax departments are directed to issue within a short, prescribed timeframe after receipt of the recommendations.

Taxpayer outreach: lounge at trade fair to showcase taxpayer-friendly services and enable on-site e-filing and PAN assistance.
A national tax authority will establish a Taxpayers' Lounge at a major trade fair to publicise and operationalise taxpayer-friendly initiatives by offering on-site e-filing, access to tax credit statements, PAN application services, assistance from tax return preparers, and showcasing Ayakar Seva Kendra service delivery while pairing these services with outreach activities to engage youth and the public.

Tariff value revision sets official customs valuation benchmarks for specified imported commodities, governing import assessment and compliance.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs, exercising Customs Act authority, substitutes TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 of the existing notification to set commodity-specific tariff values for listed imports. The tables specify US dollar tariff benchmarks for palm oils, palmolein, crude soyabean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts and precious metals; most values remain unchanged and the amendment governs customs valuation and import compliance for the enumerated tariff classifications.

Loan agreement for rural connectivity continues financing to improve all-weather rural roads and support road safety
A loan agreement provides the final tranche of financing under the Rural Connectivity Investment Program to construct over 6,000 kilometers of all-weather rural roads across five states, supporting improved road design, road safety, asset management and training, with the Ministry of Rural Development as central executing agency and State Rural Roads Development Agencies responsible for state-level implementation.

Financial inclusion via JAM and MUDRA expands formal finance, targeted subsidies, and social security to underserved citizens.
The address presents JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) as the foundation for extending formal finance and targeted subsidies, describes complementary credit outreach via MUDRA and bank-branch initiatives to support microenterprises and disadvantaged groups, and outlines new low-cost social security schemes. It details structural measures in agriculture, housing, labour portability and sanitation, and institutional reforms including cooperative federalism through NITI and anti-corruption measures such as transparent auctions, hiring reforms, e-tax processes, and strengthened bank governance to enhance transparency and inclusion.

Regional intelligence sharing to coordinate responses to transnational organized crime and curb illicit financial flows.
The draft structure and Terms of reference of the South Asian Regional Intelligence and Coordination Centre on Transnational Organized Crime (SARICC-TOC) were finalized to create a regional platform for information/intelligence sharing and operational coordination against organized crime, including illicit drug trafficking, precursor trafficking and money laundering. The draft was shaped during an international meeting focused on countering illicit financial flows, which identified best practices for regional network setup, connectivity, IT tools, capacity building and interagency cooperation, with participation from law enforcement, financial intelligence units and international organizations.