Duty apportionment for pan masala amended to specify excise, additional duty and NCCD splits; education cesses zeroed.
The rules amend FORM 2 of the Pan Masala Packing Machines (Capacity Determination And Collection of Duty) Rules, 2008 by substituting item (iv) to prescribe duty ratio allocations for pan masala and pan masala containing tobacco across Central Excise Duty, Additional Duty of Excise and National Calamity Contingent Duty, and to record zero allocation for Education Cess and Secondary and Higher Education Cess; the amendment is made under section 3A(2) and (3) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and commences on publication in the Official Gazette.

Packing machine duty rates revised for tobacco pouches based on retail price slabs and linear formulas.
Notification substitutes tables setting the rate of duty per packing machine per month for chewing tobacco (including filter khaini), jarda scented tobacco and unmanufactured tobacco by retail price slabs and machine speed bands, prescribes a linear formula for rates above the top slab using 'P' as pouch retail sale price, and replaces the duty composition table with specified duty ratios allocating shares among Central Excise duty, additional excise and National Calamity Contingent Duty.

Central Excise tariff amendments revise exemptions and reclassify goods, adding concessional and nil duty treatments for specified inputs and parts.
The notification amends No.12/2012 by extending an applicability proviso date and adding an exclusion proviso, and by inserting, substituting and rewording multiple tariff table entries to add distinct classifications and duty treatments for specified goods including hand-made and machine-made paper rolled biris, inputs and parts for wind and solar equipment, RO membrane components, LED parts, and factory-consumed parts, prescribing nil or concessional rates and associated condition codes.

Excise duty exemption for renewable energy machinery subject to ministerial certification and manufacturer undertaking; time-limited relief.
Exempts excise duty in excess of a baseline ad valorem rate on machinery, instruments, apparatus, transmission and auxiliary equipment (including testing and quality control) and components when required for initial setting up of fuel cell based power systems or for balance of systems operating on bio-gas, bio-methane or by-product hydrogen, subject to a pre-clearance certificate from an officer not below Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and a manufacturer's undertaking to use the items for the certified purposes; failure to comply triggers duty liability.

Pan masala duty structure revised: packing-machine monthly duty rates and component duty ratios redefined for products with and without tobacco.
The amendment substitutes Table 1 to prescribe monthly duty per packing machine for pan masala and pan masala containing tobacco across three machine speed categories and retail sale price bands, and provides a linear formula for retail prices above the highest band with an illustrative calculation. It also substitutes Table 2 to specify duty component ratios allocating overall duty between central excise, additional excise duty, National Calamity Contingent Duty and education cess, with distinct ratios for products with and without tobacco and zeroed education cess components.

Central Excise tariff amendment updates rates, removes certain exemptions and excludes gutkha from brand-name exemption.
The notification amends Notification No. 6/2005 Central Excise by substituting revised percentage entries for the first two serial numbers in the exemptions table, omitting three specified serial numbers and their entries, and qualifying the brand name exemption to exclude pan masala containing tobacco ('gutkha'); the changes are made under section 5A of the Central Excise Act and section 85(3) of the Finance Act.

Excise duty rate prescribed for specified motor vehicles by inserting a new tariff entry, amending the central notification.
Inserts a new tariff entry in the Table to the principal Central Excise notification, prescribing an effective excise duty rate of 12.5% on specified motor vehicles under the First Schedule headings, effected under statutory authority and amending Notification No.12/2012-Central Excise by adding the new serial entry.

Non payment of excise duty on plain tamarind kernel powder declared permissible where administrative practice led to non levy.
The Central Government, satisfied that a generally prevalent practice resulted in non levy of excise on plain (un modified) tamarind kernel powder under the relevant tariff heading for the identified period, directs under section 11C that the whole of the duty payable under section 3 but for that practice shall not be required to be paid in respect of those goods for which duty was not levied during that period.

Amendment of Central Excise notification: omission of serial number 49 from exemption table, modifying exemption scope.
The Central Government, exercising power under section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, amends Notification No. 2/2011-Central Excise by omitting serial number 49 and its corresponding entries from the Table, thereby altering the list of miscellaneous exemptions.