Effective rate of duty amended by substituting "machines" with "goods" and revising woollen textile machinery entries.
Amendment broadens a notification entry by substituting the word "machines" with "goods" in the table and replaces specified entries in List 10 with renewed descriptions of woollen textile machinery, including Carding Sets, various frames and ring frames of specified ring diameters for use in the woollen textile industry.

Customs duty exemption for specified HVDC project equipment relieves qualifying imports from basic customs duty under statutory authority.
Exemption from customs duty is granted under section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, for specified equipment imported by M/s Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for the Rihand Sasaram Biharshariff HVDC Link Back to Back Station; the exemption enumerates capital plant, protection and control apparatus, switchgear, transformers, reactors, filters, cabling, batteries, lighting, HVAC and related spares. A subsequent note records omission of reference to additional duty exemption and later rescission of the notification.

Edible oil import amendment: substituted tariff entry sets duty treatment for imports within specified period under Customs notification.
The notification substitutes S.No. 10 in Notification No. 20/99-Customs to treat "Edible oils or any material from which edible oil can be extracted when imported on or after the 8th June, 1999 and up to and inclusive of the 31st day of March, 2000" with the duty column entries recorded as Nil, Nil, 3.

Inland container depot amendment permits specified ICD locations to undertake unloading of imports and loading of exports.
The notification amends the Table to the principal customs notification to add Garhi Harsaru Junction (near Gurgoan) in Haryana and Mysore in Karnataka as authorised inland container depot locations, each expressly permitted for unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods; it also corrects the Bangalore entry notation through textual substitution.

Appointment of Commissioner to exercise adjudicatory powers in a customs seizure case involving Essar Oil Limited machinery.
Under section 4(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Government appoints the Commissioner of Customs, Ahmedabad to exercise the powers of the Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, Rajkot for the specific purpose of adjudicating the seizure of imported machinery and parts of M/s. Essar Oil Limited and related matters under the Act and rules.

Appointment of DRI officials as Customs Officers extended to include Gandhi-dham under amended notification.
Amendment expands the territorial scope of delegated customs authority by textual substitution in the table of the referenced notification, replacing the place-listing for Gujarat and the Union Territories of Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to include Gandhi-dham alongside Surat and Jamnagar, thereby extending the administrative reach of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials appointed as customs officers under the Customs Act.

Customs privilege disposal rules: vehicles 1500 CC may be sold to non privileged persons after three years subject to duty and approvals.
Amendments permit sale of motor vehicles with engine capacity not exceeding 1500 CC to non privileged persons after three years from importation with Board and Ministry of External Affairs permission and payment of customs duty; allow sale to scrap agencies where insurers decline purchase; restrict disposal of special purpose vehicles to sale to another privileged person, re export, or surrender for scrapping with net scrap proceeds reimbursed after duty. Duty assessment is to be made with the nearest Commissioner of Customs, with depreciated valuation for non damaged vehicles and transaction value for accidented or totally damaged vehicles.

Customs exemption for handicraft inputs: duty-free import permitted for registered exporters with EPC certification and prior-export value cap.
The notification adds a duty-exempt tariff entry for specified inputs used in handicraft exports, including electrical lamp parts, hinges, locks, wax items, chemicals/lacquer and motifs, subject to condition 8A. Condition 8A requires that the importer be a manufacturer of handicrafts registered with the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts, that imports under the exemption do not exceed a value cap linked to the prior year's FOB exports, and that the importer produce an EPC certificate certifying prior-year export value and details of items already imported. The amendment also extends references to include leather and the Leather Export Promotion Council where relevant.

Customs exemption for mega power projects permitted for supplies upon certification by a senior Ministry of Power officer.
Adds a new clause permitting supply of goods to mega power projects listed in List 33 to Notification No. 20/99-Customs to qualify for imports under the special imprest licence where the project is an inter-state thermal power plant of capacity 1500 MW or more or an inter-state hydel power plant of capacity 500 MW or more, subject to certification by an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Power.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointment designates a Commissioner of Customs to adjudicate Revenue Intelligence show cause proceedings.
Appointment under section 4 of the Customs Act designates the Commissioner of Customs (Air Cargo), New Delhi to act as Commissioner of Customs (Imports), Mumbai for adjudication of show cause proceedings concerning M/s. Nippon Audiotronix Ltd., thereby establishing the proper adjudicating authority for the Revenue Intelligence notice.

Rescission of anti-dumping notification withdraws prior customs measure affecting NBR imports from Japan under tariff authority.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Customs Tariff Act and the anti-dumping procedural rules, has rescinded Notification No. 159/95-Customs (14 November 1995), thereby withdrawing the prior notification concerning imports of acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) from Japan as published in the Gazette.

Anti-dumping duty on Japan-origin NBR continues as imports were found dumped causing material injury to domestic industry.
An anti-dumping duty is continued on Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) originating in or exported from Japan after findings that exporters sold NBR below normal value, causing material injury to the domestic industry; the Central Government, exercising powers under the Customs Tariff Act and the anti-dumping rules, prescribes a remedial duty rate per metric tonne to counteract the injurious effect of dumped imports.

Customs exemption: Mannitol Busulphan preparations added to exempt list, amending prior notification under Customs Act.
Amendment substitutes item (112) in List 2 of the existing customs exemption notification to read "Mannitol Busulphan preparations," thereby expressly including that pharmaceutical preparation among the goods exempted under the referenced notification issued in the public interest.

Exchange rate determination for export goods sets specified currency conversion rates effective from June 1, 1999.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Customs Act, determines conversion rates for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for export goods, superseding an earlier notification; these rates are listed in Schedule I (per unit) and Schedule II (per one hundred units) and operate from the stated commencement date.

Exchange rate determination prescribed for imported goods, fixing conversion rates for customs and stamp duty calculations.
Prescribes conversion rates of specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for calculating stamp duty under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and for conversions under section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 relating to imported goods, superseding a prior notification and directing that the rates in Schedules I and II apply from the stated commencement date; Schedule I lists per unit rates and Schedule II lists rates per one hundred units.

Anti-dumping duty withdrawal due to petitioner-exporter relatedness, leading to disqualification of domestic industry standing.
Withdrawal of the provisional anti-dumping duty was ordered because the petitioner was related to the exporter and thus did not qualify as the domestic industry under clause (b) of rule (2) of the anti-dumping Rules; accordingly, the Central Government, exercising powers under section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act read with sub-rule (4) of rule 18, rescinded the provisional duty notification on industrial sewing machine needles from the specified countries.

Duty recovery and interest on noncompliant duty free imports where procurement or export conditions are unmet.
Amendments treat duty free goods as also procured from Public or Private Warehouses licensed under sections 57/58, substitute conditions to require execution of bonds and certificates, and impose duty and interest from importation or procurement where goods (capital, non capital, produced/unused, or raw materials/consumables) fail to be installed, used, exported or meet Net Foreign Exchange Earning and Export Performance targets within prescribed periods, while permitting administrative extensions and movement of goods for testing, repair or jobwork under bond.

Anti-dumping duty on acrylic fibre imports from Mexico imposed as the difference from assessed landed value.
Anti-dumping duty is imposed on acrylic fibre (tow and tops) of 1.5-8.0 denier originating in or exported from Mexico, equal to the difference between a reference amount per kg and the landed value per kg as assessed under the Customs Act; the measure is effected under section 9A(2) of the Customs Tariff Act and rules 13 and 20, and remains in force up to and including 13 November 1999, with 'landed value' excluding certain customs duties.

Mega Power Project exemption: goods for qualifying large thermal or hydel plants allowed duty-free subject to certification.
Amendment inserts a new Customs tariff entry granting a duty exemption for goods imported for setting up specified Mega Power Projects, applicable to inter-state thermal projects of 1500 MW or more and inter-state hydel projects of 500 MW or more, certified by an officer not below Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Power, and conditioned on state regulatory, privatization and recourse-to-Central-Plan requirements; it prescribes certification requirements for CPSU and private project imports and appends List 33 of eligible projects.

Safeguard duty designation: Mexico notified as developing country under customs tariff framework, amending prior notification.
The Central Government amends an earlier customs notification to insert Mexico into the list of countries treated as a developing country for purposes of safeguard duties, exercising the power conferred by clause (a) of subsection (6) of section 8B of the customs tariff statute and adding a new serial entry into the notification schedule.