Manufacture exclusion: activities amounting to manufacture are outside service tax, non-manufacture processes remain taxable.
Activities on job work producing alcoholic beverages are excluded from Business Auxiliary Service tax if they amount to manufacture as defined in central excise law; processes subject to state excise are also excluded when they meet the manufacture test. Processes not amounting to manufacture under section 2(f) remain taxable under service tax. The term manufacture is imported from the Central Excise Act for determining exclusion, without importing the wider excise duty regime.

Foreign direct investment approvals expand sectoral inbound equity, permitting conversions to holding companies, WOS formation and downstream investments.
Foreign direct investment approvals authorise inbound equity infusions, establishment of wholly owned subsidiaries, issuance of equity and compulsorily convertible instruments, share transfers and swaps, and conversion of operating companies into operating cum holding companies to enable downstream investments across multiple sectors; several proposals were deferred, a few rejected, and two withdrawn.

Import of sensitive items: values up but share of total imports down, driven by refined edible oil growth.
Total imports of sensitive items rose year-on-year for the April-September period, yet their share of gross imports declined; commodity-level movements were mixed, with falls in milk products and food grains and increases in edible oil, automobiles, fruits and vegetables, cotton and silk, SSI products, rubber, spices, alcoholic beverages, marble and granite, and tea and coffee. Edible oil imports saw a fall in crude volumes and a marked rise in refined imports, notably refined bleached deodorised palmolein, and country-level import flows showed increases from several Asian, European and African partners while imports from some South American and North American origins decreased.

Customs duty revision: withdrawal of import exemptions leading to imposition of tariffs on iron, steel and crude soybean imports.
Revision removes full exemptions and imposes basic customs duties: specified iron and steel items now attract a basic customs duty of 5% ad valorem, and crude soyabean oil now attracts a basic customs duty of 20% ad valorem; refined soyabean oil duty remains unchanged. The changes aim to protect domestic producers in light of falling international commodity prices and have been notified by the government with an effective date set in the notification.

Indirect tax collections show mixed results: customs and excise contrast with rising service tax year on year growth.
Provisional indirect tax revenue collections report Customs and Central Excise receipts for October 2008 with month and year to date comparisons showing mixed month and cumulative performance and specified percentage growth rates; Service Tax collections for September 2008 are reported separately and show positive month and cumulative growth. The excise figures are noted as exclusive of cess not administered by the Department of Revenue.

Hazardous waste import rules: imports allowed only for recycling and reuse subject to regulatory consent and permits.
Import and export of hazardous wastes is permitted only for reuse and recycling under the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 as amended in 2003; trans boundary movement requires consent of competent authorities and importers/exporters must obtain permissions from Pollution Control Boards/Committees and the Ministry. Certain imports are restricted while others (copper, zinc and non halogenated plastic scrap) are allowed for secondary manufacture; waste paper imports are subject to limits, no organic contamination and customs verification to ensure permissible contaminants are recycled environmentally soundly.

Export duty changes alter export and customs treatment for iron ores, steel products and aviation fuel pricing.
Modifications to export and customs duties effective 31.10.2008: export duty withdrawn on specified iron and steel products while scrap retains its duty; ad valorem export duty on iron ore fines replaced by a specific export duty of Rs.200 per metric tonne and duty on iron ore lumps remains unchanged; basic customs duty on Aviation Turbine Fuel abolished; full exemption for ferro molybdenum and ferro vanadium withdrawn and these items will attract basic customs duty at the newly stated rate.