Basic customs duty maintained on mixtures of nuts or dried fruits; amendment inserts new tariff entry under customs notification.
Amendment adds a new Table entry to Notification No. 124 Customs under the power of section 25(1) of the Customs Act, inserting Sl. No. 7 for tariff heading 0813.50 described as "Mixtures of nuts or dried fruits" and recording the existing basic customs duty figures for that classification, thereby maintaining the prior duty treatment for the commodity.

Exemption on medical X ray films: excise duty limited to an ad valorem cap, excess duty exempted under Central Excise Rules.
The Central Government exempts medical X ray films under sub headings 3701.10 or 3702.10 from that portion of excise duty exceeding the amount computed at an ad valorem cap of five per cent, using powers under rule 8(1) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, thereby capping effective duty payable on those tariff items.

Excise duty exemption for feature film prints purchased for Indian Panorama screenings, subject to certificate and repayment conditions.
Exemption from excise duty is granted for feature film prints under Heading No. 37.06 purchased by the Directorate of Film Festival of the National Film Development Corporation on behalf of the Government for exhibition in the Indian Panorama Section, subject to undertakings to produce a Ministry certificate of selection within a month or extended period and to pay duty if films are not screened; sale or disposal requires notification to the proper officer within a month and payment of duty, with the proper officer permitted to accept late compliance for sufficient cause.

Engineering prototype import rules updated: re-export or destruction required within specified period and bond security mandated.
Amendment prescribes that lower value samples must be rendered useless where practicable or re exported within nine months (or extended period allowed by the Assistant Collector of Customs) otherwise duty is payable; higher value samples must be re exported within the same time frame; and importers must execute a bond with specified form, sum and surety to enforce these conditions.

Commercial sample import limits expanded, increasing allowable value and extending the permitted re-export period under customs notification amendment.
The amendment to Notification No. 186/76 Cus. substitutes condition (ii) to allow import of not more than ten commercial sample units with aggregate value not exceeding five thousand rupees within twelve months, substitutes the proviso to raise the value limit to five thousand rupees, and amends condition (iii) to extend the required re export period from six months to nine months.

Duty for new cement units reduced and certifying authorities expanded under Central Excise notification amendment.
Amendment under sub rule (1) of rule 8, Central Excise Rules, 1944 substitutes the earlier per tonne duty figure in the opening paragraph of the prior notification with a lower per tonne rate for new cement units that commenced production within the specified period, and replaces the single named certifying authority in two provisos with a broader formulation permitting certification by a Development Commissioner or by designated technical development or state industry directors.

Duty rate for new cement units revised, lowering effective excise burden and expanding approving authorities.
The notification amends the parent notification by substituting a lower per tonne excise duty rate for new cement units that commenced production on or after the specified date, thereby reducing the effective duty payable. It also replaces the single named approving official in the second proviso and sub clause (b) of the third proviso with a trio of designated authorities: the Development Commissioner for Cement Industry, the Director General of Technical Development in the Ministry of Industry, and the Director of Industries in the State Government.

Import of commercial samples allowed when supplied free of charge following amendment removing specified eligibility restrictions.
The Central Government, under Section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, amends Notification No. 33/86 Cus by omitting the words "by manufacturers of export goods" from the opening paragraph and by deleting the "and" at the end of condition (i) and inserting condition (iii) that the said samples or prototypes are supplied free of charge, thereby removing specified restrictions on import of commercial samples.

Customs duty exemption for specified tariff-heading goods limits customs liability to a capped ad valorem rate on import.
Exemption from basic customs duty is granted for specified imported goods under the relevant tariff heading so that customs duty payable shall not exceed an amount computed at a fixed ad valorem rate. The exemption applies to transmission or conveyor belts of plastic, textiles or vulcanised rubber for technical uses, rubber blankets, and ceramic fibre blocks (pyro-blocks), implemented by a tariff notification to cap duty liability on import.

Excise duty cap on cement limits chargeable duty per tonne; excess amount exempted under notification authority.
The central government notification caps the effective excise duty on cement of the specified tariff classification at a stated per-tonne rate and exempts from collection any portion of the scheduled duty that exceeds that capped per-tonne rate, thereby reducing the collectible duty to the capped effective rate via the notification power under the relevant excise rule.

Excise duty exemption for Lympo removes excise liability on specified tariff goods by government notification.
The Central Government exempts Lympo, classified within Chapter 25 of the tariff schedule, from the whole of excise duty leviable thereon by Notification No. 34/88-C.E. dated 1-3-1988, issued under the authority of sub-rule (1) of rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, thereby removing excise liability on the specified Lympo goods listed in the Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985.

Customs exemption caps import duty on specified testing and safety equipment, restricting duties above a fixed ad valorem threshold.
The Central Government, under section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, exempts ten specified testing, measurement and breathing-rescue instruments when imported into India from customs duty to the extent that such duty exceeds 30 per cent ad valorem, effectively capping the customs levy on those listed goods.

Customs duty exemption for components used in fuel-efficient light commercial vehicles, subject to certification and compliance requirements.
Notification exempts specified non-raw imported goods used to manufacture listed components for fuel-efficient light commercial vehicles of payload not exceeding 4,000 kilograms from customs duty in excess of an effective capped rate and from additional customs duty, subject to certification by designated Ministry officers, programme approval, importer undertakings, prescribed account maintenance and production requirements, fuel-efficiency testing by authorized establishments under specified conditions, and compliance with performance thresholds in the Appendix.

Value threshold for soap raised, expanding the eligible per tonne exemption limit under central excise notification.
Amendment to Notification No. 39/87-C.E. substitutes in the Table against S. No. 02, in column (2), the words and figures "Rs. 25,000 per tonne" with the words and figures "Rs. 30,000 per tonne", thereby altering the per tonne valuation threshold applicable to soap for the purposes of the notification.

Amendment to central excise schedule adds specified drug intermediates to the notification's annexed list, formalizing their inclusion.
Notification No.32/88-C.E. (1-3-1988) amends Notification No.147/84-C.E. by inserting Serial Nos. 56-73 in the Schedule annexed to that notification, thereby listing by name specified drug intermediate chemicals such as 4-Cyanopyridine, Isonicotinic acid, Thiosemicarbazide, 1-Nitropropane, pyrazine mono- and dicarboxylic acids, substituted piperazine compounds, iodouracil derivatives, and multiple thiadiazole derivatives.

Customs exemption for components for manufacturing fuel efficient sub 1000cc cars subject to certification, indigenisation and undertakings.
Exemption allows import of components (including SKD/CKD packs) for manufacture of fuel-efficient motor cars up to 1000 cc from duty above 25% ad valorem and from additional customs duty, subject to certification of component lists by a senior Industrial Adviser, approval of an import programme by the Ministry of Industry, production of evidence to the Assistant Collector of Customs, provision of an undertaking to use and account for components with certified manufacturer extracts within prescribed periods, reimbursement of duty differential on breach, indigenisation certification, and mandatory fuel-efficiency certification valid for six months.

Effective duty exemption for components used to manufacture fuel-efficient small cars, conditional on certification and indigenisation.
Exempts components for manufacture of fuel-efficient sub-1000cc motor cars from customs duty in excess of a 50 per cent ad valorem equivalent and from additional duty under section 3, conditioned on importation by a qualifying manufacturer, certification by an Industrial Adviser that components are for warranty or after-sales service, manufacture under an approved phased manufacturing programme with required indigenisation certificates (and, if shortfall occurs, Joint Secretary certification of marginal valid reasons), and production of a time-limited fuel-efficiency certificate based on prescribed tests.

Effective rate caps on excise duty for specified bulk drugs and medicinal substances limit levy to prescribed rates.
The notification exempts goods under Chapters 28-30 from excise duty to the extent that duty exceeds the amount calculated at the effective rate specified in the annexed Table, thereby capping levy at the stated rates for listed bulk drugs, medicinal grade gases and anaesthetics; it adopts the Drugs (Prices Control) Order definition for "bulk drug."

Excise duty exemption for specified life saving medicaments conditioned on exclusive use of listed drugs and inert aids.
Patent or proprietary medicaments falling under the medicaments tariff heading are exempted from excise duty only if they contain exclusively the drugs listed in the Annexure and may include therapeutically inert pharmaceutical aids that do not interfere with the listed drugs' activity; any medicament containing an unlisted drug is excluded, and "drug" is defined by the applicable price control order.

Excise duty exemption for patent or proprietary medicaments limits duty to specified rates for listed formulations and single ingredient drugs.
Exemption is granted from excise duty on patent or proprietary medicaments under Heading No. 30.03 to the extent the duty exceeds the rates specified. All formulations based on bulk drugs listed in the First Schedule to the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1987 (excluding tetracycline, hydrocortisone and ophthalmological use) attract a nil effective rate; single ingredient formulations based on bulk drugs in the Second Schedule attract the ad valorem rate specified. Definitions of "formulations," "single ingredient formulations" and "bulk drug" are provided consistent with the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1987 and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.