Non-Discriminatory Market Access sought to normalise bilateral trade, contingent on reciprocal tariff liberalisation and removal of negative list.
India extended Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan in 1996, which Pakistan has not reciprocated. Official dialogues since 1998 and intensified talks from 2010-2014 sought trade liberalisation and implementation of agreed measures. Both Governments reaffirmed a reciprocal commitment to provide Non-Discriminatory Market Access and to pursue trade normalisation based on an existing road map. Pakistan's shift to a Negative List regime, barring numerous tariff lines from Indian imports, limits SAFTA preferential benefits and constrains trade liberalisation.

Senior appointments approved: Deputy Managing Directors named for Exim Bank, confirming executive leadership assignments effective upon assumption of charge.
The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet approved the designation of two officials as Deputy Managing Directors of Export-Import Bank of India, effective from the date each assumes charge, identifying one incumbent by current role as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of a public sector asset management company and the other as an Executive Director at the bank.

Customs duty on imported electronic goods: baggage beyond duty-free allowance subject to applicable customs charges.
Electronic goods carried as passenger baggage beyond the duty free allowance are liable to customs duty; cargo imports are chargeable to applicable duties except where exempt. LEDs under tariff heading 8541 are exempt from basic customs duty but remain subject to countervailing duty, special additional duty and education cesses. Reported customs revenue at Indira Gandhi International Airport for three years is provided, and no instances of passenger cheating by customs officials were reported.

President's Rule necessitates Parliament to pass Delhi's budget; sectoral outlays announced and no new taxes imposed.
President's Rule under Article 239AB continues, so Parliament must pass the NCT of Delhi budget for 2014-15; an earlier Vote on Account was enacted. The budget states total estimates, Plan and Non Plan splits, a reduction in outstanding debt, and affirms no new taxes or rate increases. Sectoral plan outlays allocate capital and program resources across health, education, social welfare, housing and urban development, water supply and sewerage, transport and energy, with specific project commitments and implementation mechanisms.

Budget allocations fund major public services and infrastructure projects across health, education, water, transport and social welfare.
The budget for the National Capital Territory of Delhi for 2014-15 sets out total expenditure split between Plan and Non-Plan components, financed by tax and non-tax revenue, capital receipts and Central grants, with an aim to reduce outstanding debt. It allocates sectoral Plan outlays and describes operational measures across health, education, social welfare, housing and urban development, water and sewerage projects, transport and energy, and affirms no new taxes or tax rate increases.

Trade deficit reduction: diversify exports and tackle market access and non tariff barriers to China.
India's trade deficit with China is attributed to China's competitive manufactured exports supported by subsidies, India's reliance on primary products, and limited market access including non tariff barriers. The Government's response focuses on export diversification into manufactured goods, bilateral market access negotiations via the JEG, promotion of Indian participation in Chinese trade fairs, utilisation of Market Access Initiative and Market Development Assistance to build business links, and sectoral MoUs and industrial park cooperation to encourage manufacturing investment in India and boost exports.

Interest Subvention Scheme expanded and rate increased to boost export competitiveness alongside product diversification measures.
The Government of India expanded the Interest Subvention Scheme from select labour intensive sectors to additional engineering tariff lines and raised the subvention rate to improve export competitiveness, while also enlarging Market Linked Focus Product and Focus Product Schemes and designating hi tech products as eligible for duty script benefits, all implemented through periodic reviews and Annual Supplements to the Foreign Trade Policy.

Trade balance improvement reported as services data added to merchandise statistics, narrowing the quarterly deficit.
The Government integrated services trade data with merchandise statistics, presenting provisional monthly and April-June aggregates and growth rates. Exports rose year-on-year while April-June imports declined in dollar terms, yielding a narrower quarterly trade deficit. Crude oil imports increased for the month and quarter, non-oil imports fell for the quarter, and services showed a positive net export position for May.

Cumulation of non subsidized and subsidized imports ruled inconsistent with subsidy law, undermining certain US CVD practices.
The WTO panel found that key elements of the US countervailing duty framework violated the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, specifically rejecting the US requirement to cumulate non subsidized and subsidized imports for injury determination; the panel also held that treating grants of mining rights as subsidies lacked factual basis, that Indian market prices should not have been ignored in subsidy calculations, and that extensive use of adverse facts available was unwarranted, while declining to accept certain Indian claims on subsidy quantification and public body status.

Service tax exemption procedural simplifications allow expedited Form A-2 issuance and provisional relief pending formalities for SEZ services
Central Excise Officers must issue Form A-2 within fifteen days of receiving Form A-1; exemption attaches from the date Form A-1 endorsement by the SEZ authorised officer is furnished to the jurisdictional Central Excise Officer within fifteen days of verification, or otherwise from the date of furnishing. Pending A-2, exemption is subject to furnishing central excise authorization to the service provider within three months. Reverse charge services need not include the provider's service tax registration number. A service is exclusively used for SEZ operations when billed to and used solely by a SEZ unit or developer for authorised activities.

Excise duty changes: sectoral rate revisions and targeted exemptions reshaping manufacturing and clean energy inputs.
Proposed amendments reconfigure central excise duty rates and exemptions across multiple sectors, combining rate reductions, targeted increases, sectoral exemptions and retrospective reliefs. The package reduces duties on specified agricultural processing and renewable energy inputs, lowers rates for certain electronics components and footwear, and provides full or concessional exemptions for inputs and machinery used in renewable energy, compressed biogas and recycling. It also rationalises duties on textile inputs manufactured from plastic waste with retrospective exemption windows and prescribes uniform or concessional rates with and without CENVAT credit for specified goods.

Customs duty restructuring: sectoral tariff changes, targeted exemptions and facilitation measures to support manufacturing and trade.
Sector-wise Basic Customs Duty adjustments and targeted exemptions are proposed across multiple sectors, including duty reductions, increases, full exemptions and concessions subject to actual user conditions, together with retrospective reliefs, tariff reclassifications, expanded entitlement-certification mechanisms and procedural clarifications to facilitate trade, project imports and defence/material conformity requirements.

Mandatory pre-deposit requirement for customs appeals requires partial payment before filing first and second stage appeals.
The Bill amends Customs statutes to broaden references to Principal Chief Commissioner/Principal Commissioner, permit filing of Bill of Entry prior to Import Report for land imports, limit recovery of duties on mineral oils before 7 February 2002, retitle and expand the Settlement Commission's scope, clarify concealment as from customs officers, raise appeal admission thresholds and review procedures, and substitute section 129E with a new provision prescribing a mandatory pre-deposit for first and second stage appeals, subject to an overall ceiling.

Investment-linked deduction expanded to include slurry pipelines and wafer fabrication, subject to eight-year exclusive-use and recapture rules.
The proposal adds slurry pipelines for iron ore transport and semiconductor wafer fabrication units to the list of specified businesses eligible for the investment linked deduction, effective for operations commencing on or after 1 April 2014. It requires assets on which the deduction is claimed to be used solely for the specified business for eight years, and provides a recapture mechanism treating the previously allowed deduction, less hypothetical depreciation, as business income if the asset is used otherwise; an exception exists for companies declared sick. It also precludes concurrent claims under the SEZ profit linked deduction and the investment linked deduction, with reciprocal amendment effective 1 April 2015.

Focus sector designation boosts leather industry through targeted incentives and export promotion schemes and institutional development support.
The Government designated the leather sector as a focus sector, providing concessional import duty treatment for machinery and targeted export promotion support. Policy delivery is channelled through the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion's Indian Leather Development Programme (ILDP) with six sub-schemes addressing skills, artisan support, mega clusters, integrated development, technology/environmental issues, and institutional facilities, alongside Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) and Market Access Initiatives Scheme (MAIS) for export expansion.

Export ban on edible oils permits branded pack exports under a Minimum Export Price while import duty on refined oil increased.
An export ban on edible oils including palm oil remains, with an exemption for branded consumer packs up to 5 kg subject to a Minimum Export Price, which has been reduced to stimulate such exports. Import policy distinguishes refined and crude edible oils: import duty on refined oils has been increased while the duty on crude oils remains lower. Country wise import and export quantities and values for palm oil are provided in an annexure to the announcement.

Concessional refinance for horticulture and priority sector announced, reducing refinance rates and leaving loan pricing to banks.
NABARD reduced its long term refinance rate and introduced a targeted concessional refinance scheme for specified plantation and horticulture activities, applying a concession relative to the prevailing refinance rate. NABARD also provides refinance against banks' ground level Priority Sector disbursements to support capital formation and agricultural credit, while ground level interest rates are determined by individual banks following RBI deregulation.

Service tax amendments clarify advance rulings, place and point of taxation, valuation, reverse charge and exemptions.
Service Tax amendments implement Budget 2014-15 changes: resident private limited companies specified for advance rulings; amendments to Place of Provision of Services and Point of Taxation rules; updates to determination of value and prescribed interest for late payment; changes to reverse charge notifications, abatement rates, and exemptions including SEZ authorised operations; and modification of the mega exemption notification. A circular clarifies distribution of common input service credit under rule 7(d) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004, and a departmental communication consolidates the Budget changes.

Central excise amendments update exemptions, cenvat credit rules and duty rate regimes after the Budget announcement.
Series of Central Excise notifications revise duty rates, exemption scopes and procedural rules: recession of the Clean Energy Cess notification; adjustments to effective duty rates and optional payment mechanisms with or without cenvat credit; specific duty determinations for pan masala and gutkha; exemptions for capital goods consumed captively, solar project machinery, bio CNG equipment, UN/international supplies, defence uses and certain AIDS programme items; and accompanying amendments to CENVAT Credit, valuation, pan masala capacity rules, MRP abatement and advance ruling eligibility.

Customs exemptions and duty adjustments expand targeted import relief and modify concessional treatment after the Budget.
Budget 2014-15 issued Customs notifications amending tariff and non tariff treatment: a Project Imports amendment, exemptions for research/educational institutions and international organisations, targeted exemptions for national programme goods, prescribed or adjusted effective rates of duty, duty free re import provisions, exemptions from Education and Higher Education cesses, concessional rates for specified partners, and non tariff changes including Advance Ruling class designation and Baggage Rules amendments.