Petroleum Bitumen import under Open General Licence permitted, subject to SIL or public notice procedural conditions.
Amendment designates petroleum bitumen as freely importable under the Open General Licence in the ITC (HS) classification, with imports permitted only under the Shipping Import License (SIL) regime or pursuant to applicable public notices, requiring that import clearances follow the SIL/public notice procedure.

Triple weightage for direct exports by KVIC/KVIB registered manufacturers enhances export credit but excludes other policy weightages.
Manufacturing units registered with KVIC or KVIBs shall be granted triple weightage on FOB or NFE for products manufactured and directly exported by them with effect from 15 August 1997; such units shall not be entitled to the weightage given in sub paragraphs (a) and (b).

Floor price for tyre imports restricts entry; free import allowed only where per tyre CIF exceeds prescribed thresholds.
Amendment fixes floor prices for importation of tyres by designating certain sub Exim codes as restricted, permitting import only under licence or Public Notice but allowing free import when the per tyre CIF value meets or exceeds prescribed thresholds for heavy vehicle and passenger vehicle tyre categories.

Special Imprest Licence admissible for imports of inputs for supplies to refineries under deemed-export benefit extension.
The Export and Import Policy is amended to treat supplies of goods to the Power, Oil and Gas sectors, including refineries, as eligible for chapter benefits where a Ministry of Finance-approved notification extends those benefits to domestic supplies, and to permit a Special Imprest Licence to manufacturer-exporters for imports of inputs used in making goods to be supplied to the Policy's listed categories, expressly covering supplies to refineries under the deemed-export framework.

EOU/EPZ domestic sale rule permits limited DTA supplies where recipient provides a transferable special import licence and EEFC duty payment.
Amendments permit limited re-export or supply of dead-stock, broken stones and rough diamonds to holders of a REP/Diamond Imprest Licence with Development Commissioner approval; permit EOU/EPZ units to sell a limited portion of prior-year export value into the domestic tariff area where the recipient provides a freely transferable Special Import Licence and applicable duty is paid from the buyer's EEFC account in free foreign exchange, subject to prescribed value addition; and require renewal applications for status certificates within the period prescribed in the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I).

Sandalwood export licensing clarified: specified product exclusions and conditional exceptions governed by procedural notices.
Amendment requires licence-based export of sandalwood in any form while expressly excluding finished handicraft and machine-finished sandalwood products; sandalwood oil is excluded only subject to conditions in the specified classification schedule and appendix; additional forms may be regulated or excluded subject to conditions and procedures set out in subsequent public notices.

Import restriction: certain monumental and building stones now restricted and allowed only under licence or public notice.
Amendment to ITC (HS) Exim Code 68.02 places specified monumental and building stones under a restricted import policy. Exim Code 68022109 (Others) and 68022200 (Other calcareous stone) are restricted and may not be imported except against a licence or in accordance with a Public Notice; the change is issued in the public interest.

Import liberalisation of common and coarse rice and broken rice permitted under amended Exim Policy and ITC classification.
The Export and Import Policy is amended to revise Chapter 15, Part III, para 15.3 to specify cereals excluding feed-grade maize and common/coarse rice and rice with 50% or more broken; wheat imports are subject to Public Notice and a Food Corporation of India reference. A remark is added to Exim Code 10.06 (Rice) in the ITC(HS) Classification that import of common/coarse varieties of rice and rice with 50% or more broken shall be freely allowed.

ITC (HS) classification correction clarifies importability and amends prefabricated housing material description.
The notification inserts a provision in the ITC (HS) heading for Exim Code 85.36 clarifying that goods not directly usable as consumer goods are freely importable, and it amends the item description for Exim Code 94060009.10 to "Prefabricated housing material," with both corrections made operative from 1.4.1997.

EPCG licence transitional duty relief extended for eligible pre-existing licences; FTP textual and procedural corrections clarified.
Revised concessional duty treatment for EPCG licences issued on or before 31 March 1997 provides reduced duty for imports cleared on or after the notification and zero duty for specified agriculture and allied sector licences meeting the stated cif threshold. Textual and procedural corrections clarify minimum net foreign exchange wording for electronic hardware units, extend provisions to EHTP/STP Units, amend processing to require Development Commissioner concurrence with final customs processing based on input-output norms, revise the net foreign exchange formula, correct an appendix reference, and delete a product category.

ITC (HS) Classification notified establishing the operative tariff classification framework for exports and imports under the Foreign Trade Policy administration.
The Central Government, exercising authority under the Foreign Trade Act and the Export-Import Policy, notifies the ITC (HS) Classification of Export and Import Items as the operative tariff classification schedule for the policy period, incorporating the detailed classification entries by reference to the Annexure and establishing the classification framework for export and import transactions.

Export and Import Policy notification invokes Foreign Trade Act authority to notify EXIM Policy, establishing new trade framework.
The Central Government, exercising authority under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, notifies the Export and Import Policy 1997-2002 as set out in the annexure and brings it into force from 1 April 1997, issuing the notification in the public interest and signed by the Director General of Foreign Trade.