Indirect tax collections indicate stronger nominal GDP and an expanded tax base after exclusion of additional revenue measures.
Increase in indirect tax collections during July 2015 and April-July 2015 reflects strengthening underlying economic momentum and an expanded tax base from higher nominal GDP; growth persisted across customs, central excise and service tax, and remained robust even when additional revenue measures such as excise hikes, cess increases, withdrawal of exemptions and a service tax rate rise are excluded.

Indirect tax revenue growth signals stronger provisional collections, with notable rises in excise, service tax and customs.
Provisional indirect tax collections in July 2015 increased 39.1% year on year to Rs. 56,739 crore, achieving 32.6% of the BE 2015-16. Central Excise rose 64.8% (36.6% of BE), Service Tax rose 30.3% (29.0% of BE), and Customs rose 23.2% (31.7% of BE); cumulative receipts up to July show 37.6% year on year growth.

Anti-dumping and safeguard measures protect MSME markets from unfairly priced imports while support schemes boost competitiveness.
Rapid growth of Chinese imports has pressured Indian MSMEs across specified manufactured product groups. The Government relies on anti-dumping duties to address unfair pricing and safeguard duties to manage import surges, administered by the Directorate General of Anti Dumping and Allied Duties and the Directorate General of Safeguards. Domestic laws, technical and safety standards apply to imports unless exempted. Complementary MSME support programmes-competitiveness, credit, cluster development, market development and vendor development-aim to enhance MSME ability to compete with low-cost imports.

Export compliance training equips exporters on statutory requirements and government promotional support for international trade.
FIEO organises certificate programmes to train exporters on introduction to international trade, statutory requirements for export-import, trade finance, export documentation, the role of insurance agencies, and updates on the Foreign Trade Policy, while explaining government and agency promotional support for exporters.

Customs duty on aluminium: industry seeks higher duties on products and scrap to curb import pressure; proposal sent for review.
Adverse international aluminium prices and increased imports of aluminium scrap prompted the Aluminium Association of India to request raising the basic customs duty on aluminium products and increasing duty on aluminium scrap to parity with primary metal; the representation has been forwarded to the Department of Revenue, and an earlier similar request was considered in Budget 2015-16 but not acceded to.

Labour law applicability in SEZs: welfare protections remain fully enforceable and central government cannot relax labour laws.
Labour law applicability in Special Economic Zones is reaffirmed: laws relating to the welfare of labour remain fully applicable within SEZs and the Central Government has no authority to relax those welfare protections under the SEZ legal framework. The Government also conducts periodic policy and operational reviews, based on stakeholder inputs, to facilitate effective implementation of the SEZ scheme.

Export facilitation: new DGFT and FTP measures streamline documentation and enable online processing for exporters.
Directorate General of Foreign Trade permits exporters to use the Export Promotion Capital Goods scheme and reward scrips in the same financial year for notified products/markets, subject to Policy conditions. The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 reduces mandatory export/import documents to three each, enables online application submission and fee payment (including card and electronic transfers), supports 24/7 processing via a mobile app, and integrates Plant Quarantine and Food Safety processes with Customs EDI to lower transaction costs and time.

Exchange rate notification: specified currency conversion rates set for customs valuation, distinguishing imported and export goods.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs specified conversion rates for listed foreign currencies into Indian rupees under section 14 of the Customs Act, effective 7th August 2015, superseding the earlier notification except for prior actions. Two schedules set the operative figures: Schedule I gives rupee equivalents per one unit with separate columns for imported and export goods; Schedule II gives rupee equivalents per 100 units for currencies so quoted. These rates are the legally operative conversion figures for customs valuation and currency conversion for the listed currencies from the stated effective date.

Export promotion measures encourage domestic manufacturing and enable import regulation tools to manage trade flows.
Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 ties export incentives to domestic sourcing and value addition by reducing EPCG export obligations for indigenously procured capital goods and increasing MEIS rewards for high domestic content. The broadly liberal import regime limits prohibited and restricted EXIM Codes to a small share while leaving most items free; the Government conducts periodic import appraisals and may invoke customs duty adjustments, safeguard or anti dumping duties, minimum import prices, quantity or port restrictions, registration requirements and quality standards to regulate imports.

Legally binding ban on pharma products stalls India-EU investment talks, government to review options and engage regulators.
The Government of India has deferred chief-negotiator talks on the India-EU investment and trade agreement after the EU imposed a legally binding ban on sale of pharmaceutical products clinically tested by an Indian contract research organisation; the Government has engaged EU regulators for eight months, characterises the pharmaceutical sector as a flagship industry with established safety protocols, notes the affected drugs have long been marketed in the EU without adverse pharmacovigilance reports, and will examine all available options.

Monetary policy kept rates unchanged and liquidity provided while monitoring transmission, inflation, monsoon and external risks.
The Reserve Bank maintained an accommodative stance and left key rates unchanged-policy repo 7.25%, reverse repo 6.25%, MSF and Bank Rate 8.25%, and CRR 4.0%-while supplying liquidity via overnight and term repos and open market operations. It cited the need for fuller bank transmission of earlier rate cuts, rising June inflation (notably food and core inflation), near-normal monsoon prospects, and global headwinds; future action will depend on transmission, food price developments, supply-side reforms, and external monetary normalisation.

Trade remedies and import controls tightened to ensure quality, impose anti dumping and raise duties on steel imports.
Government tightened import controls for the steel sector through a Quality Control Order, imposition of anti-dumping duties on specified stainless steel imports, and increases in basic customs duty on various steel categories; supply-side actions include amendments to mining and coal laws, auctioning of coal mines, and export duties on iron ore and pellets to moderate raw material outflows.

Import duty schedule for dry fruits clarifies tariff rates and government review, alongside export incentives boosting agri exports.
The Government provides export support for APEDA-scheduled products, including dry fruits, via financial assistance under the Agriculture Promotion Plan Scheme and incentive measures such as MEIS, MDA, MAI and ASIDE to promote exports; import duties for specified nut tariff headings are listed by rate or specific duty and are subject to periodic government review, as reported in a written parliamentary reply.

Manufacturing policy reform to attract investment and enable technology upgradation through facilitation and scheme-based support.
Government policy promotes deeper, higher-technology manufacturing through the Make in India initiative with 25 thrust sectors and an Investor Facilitation Cell, while simplifying regulatory requirements for defence industrial licensing and deploying support schemes such as the Export Promotion Capital Goods scheme and the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme to enable import of capital goods duty-free for export competitiveness and to finance sectoral technology upgrades.

Export facilitation expands DGFT support to exporters, including licensing and mentoring under Niryat Bandhu programs
Central trade facilitation operates through regional offices that support exporters by issuing Import Export Code, licences, scrips and incentives to enhance export competitiveness for all States, including landlocked ones, and a mentoring initiative, Niryat Bandhu Scheme, provides orientation, training and handholding to new and prospective exporters.

Land as a state subject constrains central SEZ land allocation; State recommendation required for SEZ approval.
The central SEZ approval process depends on State Government recommendations because land is a State subject, leaving States free to frame laws on land allocation; the BoA considers only State-recommended proposals and central action under SEZ laws addresses observed violations. Additionally, most audit requested SEZ files were produced but five decades old files could not be located and their retention period has expired under the Department's schedule.

Foreign direct investment approvals expand sectoral limits and permit downstream investment, repatriation and equity increases.
Seven FDI proposals amounting to approximately Rs. 981.15 crore were approved, covering downstream investment in pharma, redemption of preference shares after lock in, repatriation under the consolidated FDI policy, an increase in permissible foreign portfolio holding under the Portfolio Investment Scheme for a telecom broadcaster, approval for up to 100% foreign equity in a newly incorporated telecom services company via fresh issue and transfers, conversion of an operating/investing company into a holding/investing company, and an increase in aggregate foreign investment in a bank consequent to a merger.

Digital signatures enable digitally signed invoices and electronic document retention under new procedural safeguards for tax recordkeeping.
Statutory amendments permit manufacturers and service providers to issue digitally signed invoices and to store legally prescribed documents electronically, and a notification together with an administrative instruction prescribes the procedures and safeguards to be followed after consultation with trade stakeholders.

Foreign Direct Investment policy reforms expand automatic route access and raise sectoral participation limits for key industries.
Central government liberalised the Foreign Direct Investment regime through operational and substantive measures: continuous e-filing and procedural placement of proposals before the FIPB; opening rail infrastructure fully to the automatic route; raising foreign equity caps in defence, insurance and pension sectors; permitting full foreign participation in the medical devices carve-out of pharmaceuticals; and reforming construction development rules to ease exit, rationalise area limits and prioritise affordable housing. The statement also treats NRI non repatriation investments under FEMA Schedule 4 as domestic investment for FDI purposes.

Manual scrutiny of service tax returns adopts risk-based central selection with departmental examination under revised guidelines.
Revised guidelines implement a risk-based manual scrutiny regime for service tax returns effective 1 August 2015, aligning compliance verification with Negative List taxation and administrative reorganisation. Executive Commissionerates will focus on scrutiny and anti-evasion while Audit Commissionerates handle audits. Returns for detailed scrutiny will be selected by centrally generated risk parameters, and the detailed scrutiny will be conducted in departmental premises using assessment-related documents obtained from assessees.