SSI exemption amendment expands and reclassifies exempted excise tariff headings and specific sub headings, including branded packaged goods.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 1/93 Central Excises by substituting the Annexure entries: replacing the list of tariff heading numbers in Serial Number (1), substituting Serial Number (2) with a specified list of sub headings, substituting Serial Number (3) to enumerate particular exempt goods (rubber solution, coated/laminated textiles, powered cycles, sidecars, evaporative coolers and parts), and modifying Serial Number (4) to omit a listed item and to extend exemption to goods under a specified edible oil sub heading when branded and packed in unit containers, while retaining sandalwood oil.

Exemption for metal containers allowed where manufacture occurs without power or from pre-processed sheets by manufacturer.
The substituted entry conditions exemption for metal containers on two alternatives: (i) manufacture or related processes are ordinarily carried out without the aid of power; or (ii) the manufacturer produces the containers without the aid of power from sheets previously tinned, printed, coated or lacquered by others using power.

Exemption for job-work inputs expanded to allow clearance for export under bond or home consumption, subject to supplier undertaking.
Exemption from excise duty applies to specified goods manufactured as job work when used in manufacture of final products or cleared from the supplier's factory for export under bond or for home consumption on payment of duty. The supplier must give an undertaking to the Assistant Collector of Central Excise regarding intended use or removal, produce evidence of use or removal as prescribed, and accept responsibility for discharging excise duty liabilities on the final products.

Rescission of notification: prior exemption on waste and scrap withdrawn under section 5A(1) of excise law.
Under section 5A(1) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, the Central Government, by Notification No. 90/95-C.E. dated 18-5-1995, rescinds Notification No. 23/95-Central Excises dated 16 March 1995, withdrawing the earlier notification concerning waste and scrap.

Exemption for manufacturing waste: waste, parings and scrap from exempted goods relieved from excise duty, subject to restriction.
Waste, parings and scrap arising during manufacture of goods that are chargeable at a Nil rate or exempted by a qualifying notification are exempt from the whole of excise duty specified in the Tariff, provided they arise in manufacture of such exempted goods; the exemption does not apply where the factory also manufactures other excisable goods, and the definition of exempted goods excludes exemptions based solely on value or quantity of clearances.

Tariff amendment: Glass articles attract reduced excise duty while copper sulphate is granted excise exemption under amended notifications.
Notification No. 88/95-C.E. amends prior Central Excise notifications to (i) exempt copper sulphate by adding it to the Table of miscellaneous exemptions, and (ii) add goods under Heading 70.15 (glass articles) to the Table with excise duty set at 15 per cent ad valorem, pursuant to powers under section 5A(1) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944.

Excise exemptions for specified pile, chennile and tufted fabrics expanded; processed narrow fabrics now attract duty.
The notification amends prior central excise entries to exempt en pile, chennile and tufted fabrics when processed without power or steam, and to reclassify narrow fabrics under 30 cms by distinguishing composition and processing: narrow fabrics containing elastomeric yarn remain treated separately, unprocessed narrow fabrics remain exempt, while processed narrow fabrics attract an ad valorem duty.

Excise tariff amendment: textile exemptions and revised duty structure impose conditional nil and ad valorem rates.
The notification amends three Central Excise exemptions and tariff entries under section 5A, adding certain unprocessed textile trimmings (braids, ornamental trimmings without embroidery, tassels, pompons) at a nil rate, substituting a nil rate entry for rubberised textile fabrics (other than tyre cord fabric), and replacing the Table of rates to distinguish goods made with power (cotton and man made materials nil; other materials nil if unprocessed and no Modvat credit claimed, otherwise 15% ad valorem) from knitted narrow elastomeric fabrics at 15% ad valorem and goods made without power at nil.

Excise exemption for waste of man-made fibres caps duty to a specified ad valorem rate, excluding polymerising factories.
Exempts wastes of man-made staple fibres and man-made filament yarns in Chapters 54 and 55 from excise duty exceeding a specified ad valorem rate, while excluding from the exemption any factory that manufactures such fibres or filaments by polymerisation of organic polymers or by chemical transformation of natural organic polymers, regardless of whether the factory produces other goods.

Yarn exemption conditions: duty-free relief limited to processed yarn and supplies meeting purchaser/payment requirements; excludes single-yarn producers.
Amendment substitutes entries providing nil-duty treatment for yarn in Chapters 52, 54 and 55: processed yarn subjected to beaming, warping, wrapping, winding or reeling is exempt only if produced from yarn on which appropriate excise or additional duty has already been paid; yarn consumed in-factory to produce doubled, multifold or cabled yarn is exempt when sold to specified handloom bodies and paid for by cheque drawn on the purchaser's own account. A proviso excludes earlier exemptions from clearances by factories equipped to produce single yarn.

Exemption limitation: fabrics lose tariff exemption if subjected to specified and other processes in the same factory.
The notifications substitute provisos to exclude exemptions for woven wool, woven cotton and man-made fabrics when those fabrics are subjected in the same factory to any process or processes specified in the Table while also having been subjected in that factory to any other processes not specified in the Table; paragraph 2 of each notification is omitted.

Excise duty exemption for sweetmeats and snacks under specified tariff subheadings removes levy on those items.
Central Government exempts sweetmeats and snacks classified under the specified tariff subheadings from the whole excise duty specified in the Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, by notification dated 19-4-1995, exercising statutory power to grant exemptions in the public interest.

Yarn definition amended clarifying tariff scope: excludes sewing thread and includes double, multifold and cabled yarn.
Amendment replaces the Table entry for S. No. 1 in Notification No. 35/95-Central Excises with the description: "Yarn (other than sewing thread), double or multifold including cabled yarn, whether or not dyed, printed, bleached or mercerised," thereby clarifying the commodity scope for the notification.

Excise exemption for knitted cotton fabrics without elastomeric yarn: such fabrics attract Nil duty under amended tariff.
The notification amends an earlier Central Excise notification to add an exemption for knitted fabrics of cotton that do not contain elastomeric yarn or rubber thread, specifying that such fabrics, whether or not processed, are leviable at Nil duty under the provisions of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 and the Additional Duties of Excise Act, 1957.

Captive consumption: redefined inputs exclude machinery and certain packaging, narrowing scope of exemption.
The amendment revises the definition of inputs for the captive consumption exemption: excluding machinery and plant used in production or processing; excluding packaging materials for which an exemption equal to excise duty is availed for packaging final products; and excluding packaging materials or containers whose cost is not included in the assessable value of final products under the Central Excises and Salt Act. The Schedule to the principal notification is also substituted to list specific prior notifications and entries retained for the exemption framework.

Excise amendment adjusts duty rates for polyester filament yarn, distinguishing draw-twisted/textured varieties from non-textured supply.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 36/95 Central Excises by substituting the Table to prescribe distinct excise charges per kilogram for two categories of polyester filament yarn: plain filament yarn (other than draw twisted or textured) and polyester filament yarn that is draw twisted or textured, effecting a change in tariff treatment through table substitution under statutory authority.

Excise exemption for twisted filament yarns applies where upstream excise or additional duty has already been paid.
The amendment inserts two conditional Nil duty entries for twisted polyester and twisted nylon filament yarns (excluding double or multifold, including cabled yarn and sewing thread) which apply only when such yarns are manufactured out of textured or draw twisted yarns falling within the schedule and on which the appropriate excise duty or, as applicable, the additional duty under the Customs Tariff Act has already been paid.

Exclusion of Negative List imports narrows applicability of exemption for EOU, FTZ, EHTP and STP goods sold domestically.
The amendment provides that the notification exempting goods of 100% EOU, FTZ, EHTP and STP when sold in India shall not apply to goods specified in the Negative List of Imports in Chapter XV of the Export and Import Policy for the period 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1997.

SSI exemption amendment updates tariff classifications for yarns, fabrics and related textile materials, altering Annexure coverage.
Amendment to the Annexure of Notification No. 1/93-C.E. substitutes specified tariff item figures in Serial Number (2) and replaces the Serial Number (3) description with an expanded list of covered goods, including rubber solution or vulcanizing solution; cotton yarn not containing synthetic staple fibres; rubberised textile fabrics (other than tyre cord fabrics); animal and horse hair yarns; waste of synthetic filaments; metallised yarns and narrow woven and coated or laminated textile fabrics.

Tariff reduction for polyester monofilament yarn: duty lowered under a central excise notification to a reduced ad valorem rate.
The tariff entry for polyester monofilament yarn is amended by notification to substitute the existing entry with 20% ad valorem, effectuating a duty reduction under powers conferred by the Central Excises and Salt Act on the ground of public interest and by way of amendment to an earlier Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) notification.