Excise duty on tobacco products revised: specified ad valorem and specific rates and a narrow exemption apply to listed tobacco goods.
Notification prescribes excise duties and limited exemptions for specified tobacco goods by Fourth Schedule tariff items, replacing a prior notification. It lists tariff classifications and assigns either ad valorem percentages or specific rupee-per-thousand rates for categories including unmanufactured tobacco, cigarettes (distinguished by filter and length), tobacco substitutes, gutkha, chewing tobacco, snuff, extracts, and reconstituted tobaccos, and specifies mixed charging rules where a percentage or a specific amount applies, including higher-of rules and a narrow exemption for unbranded, unpacked unmanufactured tobacco.

Central Excise (Amendment) Act 2025 will commence on 1 February 2026, setting the effective date for its provisions.
Under the authority of subsection (2) of section 1 of the Central Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025, the Central Government, by Notification No. 03/2025-Central Excise (N.T.), appoints 1 February 2026 as the date on which the provisions of the Act shall come into force.

Interim Board for Settlement constituted under section 31A, establishing four regional boards with specified headquarters.
Constitution of four Interim Boards for Settlement under the statutory power of section 31A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, by executive notification establishing Interim Board for Settlement I (Delhi), Interim Board for Settlement II (Kolkata), Interim Board for Settlement III (Mumbai) and Interim Board for Settlement IV (Chennai) as designated settlement fora, authenticated by the issuing under secretary and notification reference.

Excise duty increase on petrol and diesel mandates higher per litre rates, altering previous notification and effective from April eighth.
The Central Government, exercising statutory powers, amends the tariff Table of Notification No. 05/2019 by substituting the entries in column (4) for Sl. No. 1 and Sl. No. 2 with new per litre rates for petrol and diesel; the amendment is notified as No. 02/2025 Central Excise, dated 7 April 2025, and comes into force on 8 April 2025.

Additional duty on unblended diesel implementation date extended by amendment, deferring applicability under existing notification.
The notification amends No. 11/2017-Central Excise by substituting the year reference in two provisos-against Sl. No. 3 in the Table (column (3)) after item (ii) and in item (b) of the proviso after the Annexure-thereby extending the implementation year for the additional duty of excise on unblended diesel. The amendment is issued under the Central Excise Act and comes into force on 2nd February, 2025.

Re-assignment of central excise and service tax appeals directs designated officers to hear and decide appeals filed with appellate commissioners.
Re-assignment of central excise and service tax appeals appoints specified Principal Additional Director General or Additional Director General officers within the territorial jurisdiction of a Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner as Central Excise Officers, vests them with all powers under the Central Excise Act and the Finance Act and rules, and assigns them, together with Principal Commissioners and Commissioners (including Audit and Appeals), the jurisdiction to pass orders in appeal for appeals filed on or after 1 July 2017 with the Commissioner (Appeals) in the territorial jurisdiction specified.

Rescission of duty exemption on exported fuels withdraws prior excise relief and takes effect immediately.
Rescinds Notification No. 08/2022-Central Excise that granted exemption for certain duties on petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel cleared for export, withdrawing that exemption for future clearances. The rescission is made under statutory excise and finance powers, takes effect immediately, and contains a savings clause preserving actions done or omitted before the rescission.

Central excise amendment: omission of provisos affecting duty rebate and export without payment procedures framework.
The Central Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2024 omit the first proviso before the explanation in Rule 18 (Rebate of duty) and omit the proviso to Rule 19 (Export without payment of duty), with immediate effect under the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Rescission of excise notifications withdraws prior exemption from road and infrastructure cess on petrol and diesel exports.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Finance Act, the Central Excise Act and the General Clauses Act, rescinds Notification No. 10/2022-Central Excise and Notification No. 11/2022-Central Excise, thereby withdrawing the prior excise treatment related to Road and Infrastructure Cess on exports of motor spirit and high speed diesel; the rescission is subject to actions already done or omitted and takes immediate effect.

Rescission of Special Additional Excise Duty exemptions reinstates excise treatment for petroleum products, effective immediately with savings.
Rescinds prior notifications granting relief under Special Additional Excise Duty for production of petroleum crude and for exports of aviation turbine fuel, motor spirit and high speed diesel oil, effective immediately, while saving acts or omissions done before rescission.

Central excise exemption scope expanded to include goods at an additional serial entry, altering proviso application.
The amendment substitutes the phrase "goods specified against Sl. No. 7" with "goods specified against Sl. No. 7 and 7C" in the first proviso to the opening paragraph of the principal excise notification, thereby extending the proviso's application to goods listed at the additional serial entry; the change takes effect from 20th November, 2024.

Excise duty on blended aviation turbine fuel adjusted with reduced rate for RCS UDAN flights and standard rate for others.
Inserts two tariff entries into the Central Excise notification to treat blended aviation turbine fuel differently: a concessional excise rate for blended ATF drawn by selected airline or cargo operators for Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN) flights from designated RCS airports, heliports, or waterdromes, and a separate general excise rate for blended ATF otherwise. The amendment is promulgated under the Central Excise Act authority and takes effect on the notification's stated operative date.

Tariff amendment: definition of blended aviation turbine fuel established, and a new tariff entry created assigning a specified excise rate.
The Fourth Schedule to the Central Excise Act is amended for Chapter 27 by substituting supplementary notes to treat references to Indian Standards as references to the latest published versions and by defining Blended Aviation Turbine Fuel as aviation turbine fuel comprising a specified portion of petroleum oils blended with synthesized hydrocarbons meeting the relevant Indian Standard. A new tariff item for Blended Aviation Turbine Fuel is inserted under sub-heading 2710 19 with kilograms as the unit and an assigned excise rate; the change is effective on Gazette publication.

Special Additional Excise Duty on Petroleum Crude reduced to nil per tonne, altering the tariff entry and taking effect imminently.
Amendment substitutes the tariff table entry for the first serial entry to read "Nil per tonne," reducing the Special Additional Excise Duty on production of Petroleum Crude. The change is made by Notification No. 25/2024 Central Excise under section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with section 147 of the Finance Act, 2002, thereby amending Notification No. 18/2022 Central Excise and taking effect from the commencement date specified in the notification.

Export exemption of petrol and diesel to Bhutan removes RIC charge and updates Central Excise tariff entries.
Amends Notification No. 10/2022 to exempt motor spirit (petrol) and high speed diesel exported to Bhutan from the road infrastructure cess by substituting entries for existing S. Nos. 1 and 2 to apply to exports to countries other than Bhutan, inserting new tariff table entries under heading 2710 for petrol (S. No. 1A) and diesel (S. No. 3) that specify nil per litre treatment, and omitting paragraph 2. The amendment is effective from 3rd September, 2024.

Exemption of fuel exports to Bhutan: Special Additional Excise Duty waived for petrol and diesel exports.
Inserts specific table entries exempting Motor spirit (petrol) and High speed diesel oil when cleared for export to Bhutan by prescribing a nil per litre rate for those exports, substitutes the prior entries for exports to countries other than Bhutan, and omits paragraph 2 of the principal notification; the amendment takes effect on the stated commencement date.

Excise exemption for aviation turbine fuel exports to Bhutan extends nil additional duty to such shipments.
Amends the excise exemption framework to treat exports of Aviation Turbine Fuel to Bhutan as exempt from the Special Additional Excise Duty by substituting the prior entry and inserting a new serial entry specifying that Aviation Turbine Fuel cleared for export to Bhutan is chargeable at nil per litre, thereby extending the scope of the exemption to include Bhutanian-bound exports; the amendment takes effect the day after notification.

Special Additional Excise Duty reduction on petroleum crude via substitution of tariff entry, effective immediately.
Substitutes, in the Table of Notification No. 18/2022-Central Excise, the entry in column (4) against S. No. 1 with the specified tariff amount for Special Additional Excise Duty on production of Petroleum Crude, effected under statutory powers conferred by the Central Excise Act and the Finance Act; the amendment comes into force on the 31st day of August, 2024.

Special Additional Excise Duty reduction on petroleum crude enacted, altering per tonne levy and taking effect imminently.
The notification amends Notification No. 18/2022 Central Excise by substituting the entry for the per tonne levy against the relevant serial number, thereby reducing the Special Additional Excise Duty on production of petroleum crude; the Central Government exercises statutory powers under the Central Excise Act and the Finance Act and specifies the amendment's date of coming into force.

Special Additional Excise Duty on petroleum crude reduced; amended tariff entry effective from August 2024.
Amendment reduces the Special Additional Excise Duty on production of petroleum crude by substituting the tariff entry in the Table against S. No. 1 with a new specified per tonne rate, enacted under the Central Excise Act read with the Finance Act. The change is notified as a further amendment to Notification No. 18/2022 Central Excise and takes effect from 1 August 2024.