Index of Eight Core Industries shows sectoral divergence with refinery, electricity and fertilizers driving monthly growth.
Combined Index of Eight Core Industries for August 2015 is reported at 169.6 with year on year and cumulative April-August increases; provisional sectoral indices show notable monthly gains in refinery products, electricity and fertilizers and a decline in steel. The release provides weights, monthly and yearly indices and growth rates for each constituent industry, notes revisions to prior period indices based on updated source data, and records that refinery product comparability is affected by inclusion of special economic zone production data.

Export permission for basmati rice remains operative, subject to APEDA contract registration and ongoing market support.
No ban exists on the export of Basmati rice; exports remain permitted under the existing policy subject to registration of contracts with APEDA. There is no change in policy restricting shipments. The Government notes increased export quantities in the referenced period but acknowledges softer commodity prices have reduced realization, and it is taking steps to explore new markets and promote retail packs to improve returns and sustain export growth.

Exchange rate notification updated: revised official exchange rates now govern customs valuation for imports and exports.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs amended a notification under the Customs Act to substitute the Schedule I serial entry for a specified foreign currency, replacing prior exchange rate entries with distinct rates for imported and export goods; the amendment takes effect on the stated commencement date and governs customs valuation and related procedures.

Monetary policy: repo rate cut 50 bps to 6.75% with liquidity operations adjusted to support growth amid low inflation.
The Reserve Bank cut the policy repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75%, kept the CRR at 4.0%, adjusted LAF operations to maintain liquidity (reverse repo at 5.75%, MSF and Bank Rate at 7.75%), and directed continued use of overnight, 14 day and longer term repo auctions and daily variable rate repos/reverse repos to support domestic demand amid contained inflation and incomplete bank transmission of past rate cuts.

Unique ID enabling financial inclusion expands credit access and improves detection of over lending while guarding privacy concerns.
The speech sets a regulatory agenda for sustainable financial sector growth: maintain low stable inflation, foster competition and measured innovation through new bank licences and incremental liberalisation, leverage a universal unique identifier to expand credit access and improve welfare targeting, end regulatory forbearance by classifying restructured loans as non performing while enabling early resolution via databases, Joint Lenders' Forum, Strategic Debt Restructuring and 5/25, accelerate enactment of a bankruptcy code to ensure speedy predictable creditor recovery, and build human capital in banks via market hires and training.

Indirect tax revenue growth records substantial year on year increase and improved budget estimate achievement for the fiscal period.
Provisional indirect tax collections for August 2015 increased 36.7% year on year, with cumulative collections up to August 2015 up 36.5% and BE achievement at 40.7%. Central Excise led monthly growth at 62.0% (BE achievement 45.1%), Service Tax rose 28.9% (BE achievement 35.8%), and Customs rose 21.2% (BE achievement 40.9%).

Trade Balance narrowed as merchandise exports and imports declined year-on-year, driven by lower oil imports.
Merchandise exports and cumulative April-August exports contracted year on year in August 2015, with provisional dollar and rupee values and percentage declines presented; imports also fell but by smaller percentages. Crude oil imports showed substantial year on year reductions while non oil imports rose modestly; the bulletin provides corresponding provisional trade balance figures. Separately, services trade for July 2015 reports provisional receipts, payments and a positive services trade balance in both US dollars and rupees.

Safeguard duty recommended to protect domestic steel producers from surge of imports pending final investigation.
Preliminary findings conclude that a substantial rise in imports of PUC corresponded with declining market share, falling prices, rising inventories and losses for the identified domestic industry. The Directorate identifies excess global capacity and export diversion as unforeseen developments causing increased imports, establishes a causal link between those imports and serious injury or threat thereof, finds critical circumstances warranting urgent action, and recommends provisional safeguard duty pending final determination while providing for further verification and a public hearing.

Indirect tax collections rise after policy measures and base growth, reflecting stronger revenue trend during the fiscal window
Aggregate provisional indirect tax collections for August and April-August 2015 rose markedly across Central Excise, Service Tax and Customs, with Central Excise showing the largest proportional increase. The report attributes a portion of the headline gains to specific policy measures-excise increases on fuel, higher clean energy cess, withdrawal of exemptions, and a Service Tax rate rise-while separately reporting an adjusted increase that removes these measures to reflect underlying tax base expansion.

Provisional safeguard duty recommended on hot-rolled flat steel imports; board review may lead to global safeguard application.
The Director General of Safeguards issued a preliminary finding recommending imposition of a provisional safeguard duty at twenty percent for two hundred days on hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel in coils of a width of 600 mm or more, classified under Chapter 72 (tariff heading 7208 and tariff item 72253090) with certain exceptions; the recommendation will be examined by the Board of Safeguards and, if endorsed, forwarded to the Finance Ministry as a global safeguards measure applicable to imports from all countries.

Preferential treatment for least developed countries in trade in services: binding market access, capacity building and visa fee waiver.
India will notify preferential treatment to Least Developed Countries in trade in services covering market access under Article XVI of the GATS, technical assistance and capacity building, and waiver of visa fees for LDC applicants for Indian business and employment visas, with these preferences bound for fifteen years and the non-market-access components entailing identifiable annual fiscal costs.

Ex-post-facto approval of capital infusion secures government ratification for Export Import Bank of India funding to support growth.
The Union Cabinet granted ex-post-facto approval for a government capital infusion into the Export Import Bank of India, ratifying funding authorised in the Demands for Grants and consented to by the Finance Minister to support the Bank's future growth; EXIM Bank is a statutory corporation under the Export Import Bank of India Act, 1981, tasked with providing financial assistance to exporters and importers and coordinating export-import finance.

Gold Monetization Schemes enable gram denominated deposit accounts, refined gold lending to jewellers, and structured redemption and interest rules.
Introduction of a Gold Monetization Scheme creating gram denominated Gold Savings Accounts, authorised collection and purity testing centres, tripartite bank refiner testing centre agreements, and defined short, medium and long deposit tenors with stated redemption and interest rules; deposited gold to be utilised for auctions, reserve replenishment, coins and lending to jewellers; a Gold Reserve Fund will absorb price risk and receive the spread between government borrowing cost and deposit rates; a revamped Gold Metal Loan facility will supply refiners' gold to jewellers against bank maintained gram denominated loan accounts.

Online Export Import Certificate Programme expands digital capacity building and certification for new exporters, with expert-led training and follow-up.
Launch of an online certificate programme under the Niryat Bandhu Scheme creates a virtual capacity building mechanism for new and potential exporters via live instructional sessions, expert Q&A, and a digital resource library, with periodic cohort intake, certification on completion, and follow up to assess uptake of export facilitation steps and market entry, aligning the initiative with Foreign Trade Policy objectives of skill development and digital access to trade compliance knowledge.

Service tax reform streamlines compliance and credit rules, simplifying registration, credit claims, penalties, and sectoral abatements.
Service tax reforms subsume prior cesses into the main levy, mandate two day registration, extend Cenvat credit timelines and permit re credit for subsequently received export proceeds; they remove payment precondition for reverse charge credit, fix point of taxation for reverse charge by earlier of payment or a specified invoice period, rationalise penalties, allow digital invoicing and electronic records, provide for prosecution withdrawal after final quasi judicial exoneration, and introduce industry measures including uniform transport abatement, clarified public service exemptions, and works contract rationalisation.

Ease of Doing Business: Central Excise procedural simplifications streamline registration, digital records, CENVAT credit timelines, duty payment and targeted exemptions.
Procedural and substantive Central Excise reforms include subsuming certain cesses into basic duty, two day registration with post grant verification, electronic payment for all assessees, permission for digital signatures and electronic records, extension of time for claiming CENVAT Credit to one year, permission for direct dispatch of goods under conditions, rationalisation of penal provisions, instalment payment of arrears and conditional withdrawal of prosecution.

Customs facilitation measures expand round the clock clearance, single window exchanges and digital signatures to accelerate trade and streamline compliance processes.
Administrative measures to facilitate EXIM trade include round the clock customs clearance at designated ports, establishment of a Single Window online message exchange with regulatory agencies, optional digital signatures (mandatory for Accredited Client Programme registrants), reduction of mandatory import/export documents, formation of Customs Clearance Facilitation Committees at port and central levels to monitor and resolve clearance bottlenecks, rationalisation of penalty provisions, and withdrawal of prosecutions where parties are exonerated in final quasi judicial orders.

Manufacturing-led growth to expand employment and exports under stable tax policy, infrastructure investment, and Make in India.
Remarks at EEPC India's Diamond Jubilee stress export-led manufacturing potential supported by stable macroeconomic conditions and tax policy, with policy priorities of sustained infrastructure and human capital investment and the Make In India initiative to attract multinational manufacturing, raise the manufacturing share of GDP, and enable substantial job creation, alongside targeted SME export promotion and nationwide digital connectivity to support e-services and trade.

Exchange rate determination sets notified conversion rates for foreign currencies governing import and export valuation.
Determination of notified rate of exchange prescribes conversion rates between specified foreign currencies and Indian currency for customs valuation of imported and export goods, effective from 4th September, 2015, under the authority of the Customs Act. The instrument supersedes the prior notification and sets distinct rates for imports and exports via Schedule I (per unit rates) and Schedule II (per hundred rates), forming the official administrative basis for converting declared foreign currency amounts for customs purposes.