Extension of compliance timelines for provisional mega power projects increases periods for certificate submission and security validity.
Amendment increases timeframes in the Annexure to Notification No.12/2012-Central Excise by substituting longer specified periods in clause (b) of the relevant condition, extending validity of Fixed Deposit Receipt or Bank Guarantee used as security and lengthening the period within which the final Mega Power Project certificate must be furnished for provisional mega power projects.

Packing machine duty rates revised for tobacco pouches based on retail price slabs and linear formulas.
Notification substitutes tables setting the rate of duty per packing machine per month for chewing tobacco (including filter khaini), jarda scented tobacco and unmanufactured tobacco by retail price slabs and machine speed bands, prescribes a linear formula for rates above the top slab using 'P' as pouch retail sale price, and replaces the duty composition table with specified duty ratios allocating shares among Central Excise duty, additional excise and National Calamity Contingent Duty.

Central Excise tariff amendments revise exemptions and reclassify goods, adding concessional and nil duty treatments for specified inputs and parts.
The notification amends No.12/2012 by extending an applicability proviso date and adding an exclusion proviso, and by inserting, substituting and rewording multiple tariff table entries to add distinct classifications and duty treatments for specified goods including hand-made and machine-made paper rolled biris, inputs and parts for wind and solar equipment, RO membrane components, LED parts, and factory-consumed parts, prescribing nil or concessional rates and associated condition codes.

Excise duty exemption for renewable energy machinery subject to ministerial certification and manufacturer undertaking; time-limited relief.
Exempts excise duty in excess of a baseline ad valorem rate on machinery, instruments, apparatus, transmission and auxiliary equipment (including testing and quality control) and components when required for initial setting up of fuel cell based power systems or for balance of systems operating on bio-gas, bio-methane or by-product hydrogen, subject to a pre-clearance certificate from an officer not below Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and a manufacturer's undertaking to use the items for the certified purposes; failure to comply triggers duty liability.

Pan masala duty structure revised: packing-machine monthly duty rates and component duty ratios redefined for products with and without tobacco.
The amendment substitutes Table 1 to prescribe monthly duty per packing machine for pan masala and pan masala containing tobacco across three machine speed categories and retail sale price bands, and provides a linear formula for retail prices above the highest band with an illustrative calculation. It also substitutes Table 2 to specify duty component ratios allocating overall duty between central excise, additional excise duty, National Calamity Contingent Duty and education cess, with distinct ratios for products with and without tobacco and zeroed education cess components.

Central Excise tariff amendment updates rates, removes certain exemptions and excludes gutkha from brand-name exemption.
The notification amends Notification No. 6/2005 Central Excise by substituting revised percentage entries for the first two serial numbers in the exemptions table, omitting three specified serial numbers and their entries, and qualifying the brand name exemption to exclude pan masala containing tobacco ('gutkha'); the changes are made under section 5A of the Central Excise Act and section 85(3) of the Finance Act.

Excise duty rate prescribed for specified motor vehicles by inserting a new tariff entry, amending the central notification.
Inserts a new tariff entry in the Table to the principal Central Excise notification, prescribing an effective excise duty rate of 12.5% on specified motor vehicles under the First Schedule headings, effected under statutory authority and amending Notification No.12/2012-Central Excise by adding the new serial entry.

Amendment of Central Excise notification: omission of serial number 49 from exemption table, modifying exemption scope.
The Central Government, exercising power under section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, amends Notification No. 2/2011-Central Excise by omitting serial number 49 and its corresponding entries from the Table, thereby altering the list of miscellaneous exemptions.

Tariff amendments update excise classification codes and exemption entries, altering headings and HS codes with specified commencement.
Amendments revise multiple Central Excise notifications by substituting, inserting or omitting tariff classifications and related entries in exemption schedules, altering commodity descriptions and Harmonized System code references. The changes are detailed against specific serial entries, replacing tariff numbers, adding bracketed exclusions, and removing exceptions in tables and annexures, thereby modifying which goods qualify under the affected exemption or specified categories. The notification prescribes a commencement date for the amended entries and requires reliance on the substituted schedule entries.

Branded coin exemption expanded to include high-purity gold and silver coins bearing brand names when duties are paid.
Amendment substitutes the Table entry at serial number 200 to exempt branded precious metal wares and branded high-purity gold and silver coins manufactured from metal on which appropriate customs or excise duty has been paid. The exemption covers articles of goldsmiths' or silversmiths' wares bearing a brand name and branded coins of high purity produced from duty-paid metal. The explanation defines "brand name" broadly to include registered or unregistered trade names, marks, symbols and invented words, and excludes jeweller or job worker identities known as "house mark" from the definition.

Excise exemption for Point of Sale devices and their components introduced with a built in sunset limitation.
Amendment adds tariff entries exempting Point of Sale (POS) Devices and all goods used in their manufacture from central excise duty by inserting serial entries 256A and 256B with nil duty rates into the Central Excise notification, and introduces a sunset proviso limiting the exemption's applicability after the terminal date specified in the proviso.

Excise exemption for specified jewellery inputs and precious stones expands duty relief for goldsmiths' supplies.
The amendment exempts specified goods from central excise duty: (I) non-branded articles of goldsmiths' or silversmiths' wares of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal; (II) gold strips, wires, sheets, plates and foils used in jewellery manufacture; and (III) precious and semi-precious stones, synthetic stones and pearls. The explanation defines "metal" to include certain alloys and sets a minimum gold-content threshold for inclusion, and defines "articles" of gold to include finished items (other than ornaments) and gold coins or broken pieces while excluding primary gold in unfinished or semi-finished forms.

Central Excise amendment changes a tariff table entry, altering the column five classification for a specified serial item.
Substitutes the entry in column (5) against S.No.215A in the Table of notification No.12/2012-Central Excise with the entry "2", under the authority of sub-section (1) of section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, by notification No.33/2016 dated 2nd September 2016.

Concessional excise duty for aviation turbine fuel from regional connectivity scheme airports introduced with time-limited applicability.
Imposes a concessional basic excise duty rate on Aviation Turbine Fuel drawn by operators or cargo operators from Regional Connectivity Scheme airports by substituting the serial entry for the relevant tariff heading and inserts a proviso limiting the notification's application to that entry after a specified date; issued under the Central Government's statutory amendment powers and linked to prior amendments to the principal notification.

Secure storage requirement clarified: units must retain duty free goods on unit premises and rewarehousing references removed.
Amendment replaces references to bonded premises with premises of the unit, omits requirements and references to the rewarehousing procedure, substitutes condition (vii) to require a unit to have and declare a premises for secure storage of duty free procured goods and their final products, and removes all references to debonding, thereby prescribing on unit storage and a declaration obligation in lieu of bonded premises and rewarehousing arrangements.

Excise duty exemption withdrawal removes tax relief for ethanol from molasses supplied to public fuel companies for petrol blending.
Withdrawal of excise duty exemption on ethanol from molasses for supply to public sector oil marketing companies for petrol blending by omitting serial number 40A and its entries from the Table in Notification No.12/2012 Central Excise; amendment made under Section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 by Notification No.30/2016 Central Excise dated 10 August 2016.

Tariff corrigendum: renumbering of silver jewellery exemption entry alters column enumeration in notification for legal clarity
Corrigendum corrects the enumeration in column (3) of Notification No. 26/2016-CE by renumbering the entry describing Articles of silver jewellery, other than those studded with diamond, ruby, emerald or sapphire from "(II)" to "(III)"; published as G.S.R. 749(E), dated 29th July 2016, amending G.S.R. 728(E) of 26th July 2016.

Excise exemption narrowed: handicrafts under specified tariff heading excluded from exemption, altering eligibility for duty relief.
The amendment substitutes the first table entry in the principal notification so that the exempted category reads: Handicrafts, other than the handicrafts falling under heading 7113, thereby excluding goods under that tariff heading from the excise duty exemption and redefining eligibility for relief under Notification No. 17/2011.

SSI exemption for jewellery increased, with input-credit and capital-goods credit restrictions and aggregate clearance limits retained.
Amends Notification No. 8/2003 to allow exemption on first clearances of articles of jewellery or parts thereof under chapter heading 7113 for home consumption up to an aggregate value of ten crore rupees in any financial year (with a transitional lower aggregate limit for March 2016). Manufacturers availing this exemption shall not claim input-duty credit on inputs or utilise credit on capital goods for payment of duty in respect of exempt clearances within the exemption aggregate, and aggregate clearances of all excisable goods by a manufacturer are subject to a higher aggregate cap in the preceding financial year.

Excise duty exemption for jewellery reconversion limits duty to value addition and labour charged to the customer.
Partial exemption from Central Excise duty applies where jewellery supplied by a retail customer is reconverted or precious stones supplied by a retail customer are mounted; duty is limited to the amount attributable to value addition, consisting of additional materials and labour charges charged to the retail customer, and manufacturers must maintain records identifying the customer, weights and purities, receipt and issue voucher details, and separately state value addition on the invoice.