Excise exemption for handloom apparel requires Textiles Committee certification, invoice declaration, labelling and annual audit.
Exemption for apparel made of handloom fabrics requires at clearance a Textiles Committee certificate identifying the distinctive profile, an invoice declaration that the goods are made from handloom fabrics and covered by the certificate, and an affixed label declaring handloom origin. The Commissioner shall authorize an audit team including a Central Excise officer and a Textiles Committee officer to audit records, sample test and verify compliance annually. Woven fabrics receiving calendaring or decatising on job-work basis qualify for exemption only where the job-worker lacks other processing facilities and no CENVAT credit has been taken, with value defined as the job-work charges.

Excise duty exemption for SEZ developer imports subject to authorisation, licensed warehousing, reporting and bond obligations.
Exemption from excise and additional excise duties is granted for excisable goods brought into a Special Economic Zone by a developer for SEZ development, operation and maintenance, provided the developer has Development Commissioner permission, the goods are authorised by a Committee headed by the Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, stored in licensed public or private warehouses under the Customs Act, and the developer maintains accounts, files quarterly statements, obtains permission for removal with payment where applicable, and executes a bond to utilise the goods within six months or extended period, failing which duty with interest is payable.

SEZ procedural amendment expands coverage to include establishment of units as well as manufacture of goods.
Amendment expands the scope of the Central Excise notification governing Special Economic Zones by substituting the opening paragraph to include activities "for the purposes of setting up of units or for the purposes of manufacture of goods", thereby extending procedural coverage to establishment of units as well as manufacture.

Reclassification of vehicle bodies leads to non payment of excess excise duty where prior classification practice caused short levy.
The Central Government, invoking its power under section 11C of the Excise Act, directed that excess duty of excise attributable to classification of bodies built by independent body builders on motor vehicle chassis under headings 87.02-87.04 instead of heading 87.07 need not be paid where such duty was short levied in accordance with the prevalent practice during the period from 1 May 1991 to 28 February 2001.

Rebate exemption for aircraft stores excludes reduction when exported as stores on foreign run to Nepal; commissioner jurisdiction defined.
The notification amendment provides that the reduction of amount of rebate shall not apply to excisable goods exported as stores for consumption on board an aircraft on a foreign run to Nepal, and substitutes Explanation III to define "Maritime Commissioner" as the Commissioner of Central Excise whose jurisdiction includes one or more specified ports, airports, post offices of exportation or named Land Customs Stations.

Duty concession for mineral oil products used as aircraft stores is conditional on payment at specified non tariff notification rates.
Amendment substitutes Condition (iv) to make the duty concession for mineral oil products supplied as stores for consumption on board aircraft on foreign run available only where duty is paid equal to the amount specified in the Table in clause (c) of the first paragraph of the referenced non tariff notification issued under the Central Excise (No.2) Rules.

Excise duty exemption on aviation turbine fuel prevents recovery for past supplies made under established levy practice.
The Central Government, satisfied that a prevailing practice led to non levy of excise duty in excess of a specified amount on Aviation Turbine Fuel supplied to a foreign carrier, directs under Section 11C that the whole of the duty payable under Section 3 shall not be required to be paid in respect of such ATF for the period during which the practice was followed.

Textile yarns include textile fibres, and exemption conditions satisfied where appropriate excise or customs duty has been paid.
Amendments to Notifications Nos.14/2002 and 15/2002 clarify that the term textile yarns includes textile fibres, and that for processed textile fabrics (and certain goods) manufactured by composite or vertically integrated mills the condition in column (5) of the Table is satisfied if the fabrics or goods are manufactured from textile fibres or yarns on which the appropriate excise duty or additional customs duty has been paid; the explanations are retrospective.

Sale of surplus power: authorised EOUs may sell to DTA on duty for consumables or transfer to EOUs duty free under conditions.
Where an export oriented unit authorised by the State Electricity Board and permitted by the Development Commissioner sells surplus power into the Domestic Tariff Area the Assistant or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise may allow the sale on payment equal to the duty leviable on consumables and raw materials used in generation of each unit of power calculated on norms approved by the Board of Approvals; alternatively the officer may permit transfer of surplus power to other export oriented units without payment of duty, subject to maintenance of accounts of consumables for Net Foreign Exchange calculation.

Export-import policy amendments update concessional excise procedures and permit inter-zone transfers with revised procedural safeguards.
Notification 35/2002 amends multiple central excise notifications to adopt the Export and Import Policy 1 April 2002-31 March 2007, reduce prescribed earning thresholds to fifteen per cent., require manufacturers to follow rules 11 and 20 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002, and replace prior application procedures with a certificate in Form CT 3. It permits transfers of goods and capital goods among units in zones, SEZs, EHTPs, STPs and 100% EOUs for manufacture, export or in unit use, and adds contract farming conditions, new annexure items, and uniformised handbook and terminology references.

Exemption from excise duty for refinery goods removed in bond to warehouses, with reduced duty payable on subsequent removal.
Exemption from excise duty on goods supplied to specified refineries is clarified to include goods removed under bond from those refineries to a warehouse; such goods may be subsequently removed from the warehouse on payment of a reduced portion of the duties, and the explanation operates as if always part of the original notification.

Exemption for open-air stentering extended to certain cotton fabrics, subject to an aggregate job-charge cap on clearances.
The amendment inserts entry 4A granting nil duty exemption for woven cotton fabrics subjected to open-air stentering by a processor in factories without bleaching, dyeing or printing facilities; the exemption is effective to the stated terminal date and applies only to clearances where the aggregate job-charges for such stentering do not exceed the prescribed monetary cap, with aggregation across multiple open-air stenters or factories belonging to the processor.

Central Excise amendment adds Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power plants to the notification list, expanding listed facilities coverage.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Central Excise Act, issues Notification No. 32/2002 to amend Notification No. 6/2002-Central Excise by inserting five specified Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power plants into Annexure List 1, immediately after item 7; the notification cites the principal Gazette publication and prior amendments.

Consumer Welfare Fund governance expanded: membership reconstituted and powers to relax eligibility and issue management guidelines added.
Amendments revise governance and administrative powers of the Consumer Welfare Fund Rules, 1992. They replace the phrase in rule 2 to read the Central Government or the State Government, reconstitute the Committee under rule 5(2) by specifying named senior officials including a Vice Chairman from the Department of Expenditure or Department of Consumer Affairs and other senior revenue and rural development officers, and insert powers in rule 7(1) to relax eligibility period conditions and to make guidelines for management and administration of the Fund.

Jurisdictional allocation under central excise amended: territorial divisions of Chief Commissioners and Commissioners redefined.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, invoking sub rule (2) of rule 3 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002, amends Notification No.14/2002 CE(N.T.) by substituting Table I, Table II and Table III. The substitutions redefine territorial jurisdictions: Table I lists Chief Commissioners with their constituent commissioners; Table II prescribes precise territorial limits for each Commissioner of Central Excise (municipal wards, taluks/tehsils, districts, Union Territory areas and specified exceptions); Table III maps Commissioners (Appeals) to their subordinate commissionerates.

Excise duty amendment adds specific tariff entries for petrol and diesel, altering the duty schedule and effective soon.
Amendment inserts two tariff entries into the existing excise notification: entry 32B for motor spirit (petrol) and entry 32C for high speed diesel oil, specifying the applicable excise duty columns in the notification's Table and taking effect from the stated commencement date.

Concessional duty amendment on medical equipment updates eligible items, substituting and omitting specified implants under central excise rules.
Amendment revises the list of medical equipment eligible for concessional central excise duty by substituting item (19) with "Keratoprosthesis/orbital implants" and omitting items (139) and (142), thereby changing which medical devices qualify for the notification's concessional duty treatment under existing central excise authority.

Export procedure to Nepal: amended documentation and cross-border customs certification required for goods under central excise.
Amendment requires production of goods before the Nepalese Customs officer at the corresponding border check post with the original invoice; the Nepalese officer must complete prescribed entries, endorse receipt of goods in Nepal, and return the duplicate invoice to the Indian land customs officer. Annexure II is replaced by a four-copy invoice form specifying exporter and importer details, package and tariff particulars, duty information and a four-step certification sequence: exporter declaration, Central Excise sealing, Indian border identification, and Nepalese customs receipt and assessment with official endorsement.

Foreign inward remittance certificate requirement or irrevocable letter of credit required before export to Nepal or Bhutan.
Importers in Nepal or Bhutan must make full payment before export by furnishing a Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate from an RBI authorized foreign exchange bank or by opening an irrevocable letter of credit in favour of the Indian exporter. When the export is against an irrevocable letter of credit, that circumstance is to be stated before provisions requiring the exporter to furnish specified documentation.

Effective excise rate reduced for goods cleared by specified North East refineries, limiting duty liability to a capped portion.
Exempts First Schedule goods cleared from four specified North East refineries from so much of each excise duty as exceeds the amount calculated at fifty per cent. of that duty, thereby capping the payable excise at fifty per cent.; applies to duty of excise, special duty, additional duties under the Finance Acts and special additional excise duty. The exemption also covers removals under bond to a warehouse and later removals on payment of fifty per cent. of the duties.