Foreign Direct Investment approvals: conversions and equity issuances permitted; several proposals deferred and one rejected.
Approved proposals authorize issuance of equity shares and convertible warrants, induction of foreign equity in joint ventures, acquisition of additional equity including compulsorily convertible preference shares, and conversion of operating companies into operating cum holding companies to permit downstream investment; certain approvals attract Press Note 1 of 2005 or involve ex post facto approval for warrant allotment, while eight proposals were deferred and one was rejected.

Indirect tax collection shows year-on-year growth, reporting provisional Customs, Excise and Service Tax increases and exclusions.
Provisional indirect tax collection data for mid 2008 summarises monthly and year to date receipts for Customs, Central Excise (exclusive of cess not administered by the Department of Revenue) and Service Tax, presenting comparative figures for the corresponding prior year periods and percentage growth rates for each head and the aggregate.

Raw cotton exemption removes customs duty and withdraws drawback benefit, changing import-export duty treatment for affected traders.
Full exemption of raw cotton from customs duties was instituted by amending the exemption schedule, removing basic and additional customs duty applicability to raw cotton and making it duty-free on import. Concurrently, the export drawback benefit for raw cotton was withdrawn by amending the schedules that determine drawback rates, eliminating the prior drawback entitlement on exports of raw cotton.