Excise duty exemption for donated flood relief goods, subject to manufacturer certification and approved delivery and verification.
Exempts goods under the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 from excise duty when donated or purchased from cash donations for flood relief in Jammu and Kashmir, subject to manufacturer certification on clearance documents, direct dispatch to government or approved relief agencies, and production within six months (or allowed extension) of a District Magistrate's certificate to the jurisdictional Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise confirming donation for relief and rehabilitation. The exemption is time limited and in force until 31 March 2015.

Increase in Basic Excise Duty on petrol and diesel implemented through substituted per litre duty rates.
The government amends the existing Central Excise notification to increase the Basic Excise Duty on petrol and diesel by substituting higher per litre duty entries for the table items corresponding to branded and unbranded petrol and diesel, effected through Notification No.24/2014 and published in the Gazette of India.

Excise duty exemption for anti-malarial medicines and diagnostic supplies conditional on official certificate and limited-term validity.
Exemption from excise duty is granted for specified anti-malarial drugs and diagnostics and vector-control goods for the Intensified Malaria Control Project under the National Vector Borne Disease Control Program, conditional on production at clearance of a certificate from a Government of India officer not below the rank of Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare confirming the goods are required for the project; the exemption is limited in duration.

Excise tariff revision adjusts specified table entries, substituting updated per litre excise rates for affected items.
Amendment under section 5A revises specific tariff entries in notification No.12/2012-Central Excise by substituting the excise amounts in the Table: serial number 70 item (i) replaced with 2.70 per litre and item (ii) with 3.85 per litre; serial number 71 item (i) replaced with 2.96 per litre and item (ii) with 5.25 per litre, effected by Notification No.22/2014-Central Excise dated 12th November 2014.

Bunker fuel exemption for IFO 180/380 CST enables nil central excise for qualifying Indian-flag container voyages under conditions.
Provides nil Central Excise duty for IFO 180 CST and IFO 380 CST used in Indian-flag ships carrying containerised export-import cargo or empty containers between Indian ports, subject to eligibility conditions: Indian registration and flag, carriage between Indian ports (including via an intermediate foreign port), restriction on cargo documentation to IGM/EGM only, submission of a declaration with a consumption-rate certificate from a recognized classification society and voyage distance, and an undertaking to pay duty with interest if conditions are not met. The exemption is excluded on or after 11 May 2015.

Jurisdictional amendment in central excise notification expands and reallocates territorial entries for specified commissionerates.
Amendment revises territorial jurisdiction in Notification No. 27/2014 by substituting letter designations for Mumbai-II and inserting specified talukas into Vadodara-II in Table III(A), and by inserting talukas into the Anand entry and adding Alipurduar to the Siliguri entry in Table III(B), effected under rule 3 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 via textual substitution and insertion.

Delegation of Central Excise enforcement powers expands audit officers' authority to issue show cause notices and adjudicate.
The notification appoints specified officers in Central Excise Audit formations and invests them with the powers of corresponding Central Excise Officers to conduct audit, issue show cause notices and exercise adjudication within their respective jurisdictions, with a subsequent substitution clarifying the described purposes.

Delegation of power allows Principal Chief Commissioner to define Commissioner Appeals and Audit jurisdiction, limiting their authority accordingly.
Delegation authorises the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner to specify, within their territorial scope, the jurisdiction of a Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) and a Commissioner of Central Excise (Audit), and limits those Commissioners' authority to the jurisdiction so specified; the delegation includes an operative commencement date.

Central Excise officer rank alignment updated: substituted officer and rank tables now govern powers and commencement follows notification.
Amendment substitutes officer-and-rank tables in earlier Central Excise notifications, listing directorate-wise cadres (Director General, Principal Director General, Additional Director General, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy/Assistant Director, Superintendent, Inspector) and mapping them to corresponding Central Excise ranks; it replaces the Table in the 2008 notification similarly and prescribes commencement of these substitutions as specified in the notification.

Jurisdiction specification for Central Excise officers: mapping commissionerates, appointing officers and extending centralised registration coverage.
Specification of territorial jurisdiction and administrative mapping of Principal Chief Commissioners, Chief Commissioners, Principal Commissioners and Commissioners of Central Excise, together with jurisdictions for Commissioners (Audit) and (Appeal); appointment of named officers and subordinate Service Tax audit officers as Central Excise officers; and extension of a Principal Commissioner's or Commissioner's jurisdiction to cover premises of assessees holding centralised registration located in other commissionerates.

CENVAT credit eligibility expanded to include Service Tax Certificate for rail transportation, allowing credit on corresponding railway receipts.
The amendment permits a Service Tax Certificate for Transportation of goods by Rail (STTG Certificate), issued by Indian Railways, together with photocopies of the railway receipts mentioned therein, to serve as admissible documentary proof for claiming CENVAT credit by inserting the STTG Certificate and receipt copies into the list of accepted documents under rule 9(1) of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004; the change takes effect upon Gazette publication.

Cenvat credit eligibility expanded to include provider of taxable service, extending input credit entitlement after rule amendment.
Amends the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 by inserting the words "provider of taxable service" after "first stage and second stage dealer" in rule 12AAA, thereby extending eligibility for CENVAT credit to providers of taxable services; the amendment takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Interest rate fixed under section 35FF sets the statutory rate applicable to Central Excise delayed payment obligations.
The Central Government, exercising powers under Section 35FF of the Central Excise Act, 1944, prescribes a uniform rate of interest to be applied for purposes of that provision, thereby specifying the operative rate for calculating interest on excise-related liabilities governed by the statutory mechanism.

Designation substitution clarifies that references to Chief Commissioner and Commissioner read as Principal Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner.
The Central Government directs that in rules, notifications, instructions, decisions or orders under the Central Excise Act, references to Chief Commissioner shall be construed as references to Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, as the case may be, and references to Commissioner shall be construed as references to Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, as the case may be, unless the context otherwise requires.

Duty apportionment ratios for pan masala specify allocation among central excise and various cesses after amendment.
Amendment substitutes item (iv) in FORM 2 of the Pan Masala Packing Machines Rules, 2008 to prescribe a break up of duty payment for apportionment among five components-Central Excise duty, additional excise duty, National Calamity Contingent Duty, Education Cess, and Secondary and Higher Education Cess-with specified duty ratios applied separately for pan masala and for pan masala containing tobacco; the amendment takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

CENVAT credit timing: limits on taking credit after specified period; payment-linked credit allowance and reversal clarified.
A new definition of place of removal is inserted to include factories, warehouses permitted for duty suspended storage, and depots or consignment agent premises from which goods are sold. Manufacturers and output service providers cannot take CENVAT credit after six months from issue of documents specified in rule 9. Credit for input services is allowed only after payment of applicable service tax; failure to pay within three months (except wholly recipient paid services) requires repayment equal to the credit availed, with entitlement to re credit upon payment. Delayed inward remittance receipts within one year of the RBI period permit re claim of equivalent credit on documentary proof.

Rescission of Clean Energy Cess notification withdraws prior cess rate prospectively while preserving past acts under a saving clause.
The Central Government, exercising its statutory power under fiscal and excise enactments and citing public interest, rescinds Notification No.3/2010 concerning the effective rate of Clean Energy Cess on goods, but expressly preserves the effect of actions done or omissions made before the rescission by a saving clause limiting the rescission to prospective operation.

Transaction value rule deems sale price as transaction value when price is below manufacturing cost and no extra consideration flows.
The amendment provides that where goods are sold at a price less than manufacturing cost and profit and no additional consideration flows from the buyer to the assessee, the value of such goods shall be deemed to be the transaction value; this proviso is inserted in the valuation rule to treat certain below cost sales as transaction value for central excise.

Exemption of First Schedule goods expanded: capital goods and specified inputs exempt when captively consumed within factory.
The notification amends Notification No.67/95-Central Excise by substituting, in the TABLE at column (2), an entry referring to all goods falling under the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, thereby extending exemption coverage to those goods, including capital goods and specified inputs when captively consumed within the factory of production.

Electronic duty payment mandated via internet banking; officers may allow alternatives with reasons, penalty accrues for late payment.
Rule 8 is amended to require assessees to pay duty electronically through internet banking unless the Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner permits another mode for reasons recorded in writing; the penalty clause is substituted to impose a continuing monthly penalty on duty not paid after one month from the due date, calculated from the due date for each month or part thereof, with "month" defined by consecutive due dates for payment.