Import exemption amendment affects ophthalmic blanks import notification, altering tariff table entry under customs powers.
Amendment to Notification No. 11/97 Customs replaces the Table entry in column (6) against Serial No. 95 with "-" for imports of ophthalmic blanks for optical lenses, made by the Central Government under the power in sub section (1) of section 25 of the customs legislation as necessary in the public interest.

Public representative continuity required: nominees must meet integrity and competence criteria and serve until successors are appointed.
The Board substituted the exchange's Article to require that nominated Public Representatives be persons of integrity, with professional competence and market-related experience and local public eminence, subject to prior regulatory approval, and that such public representatives shall continue to hold office until new public representatives are appointed in their place, thereby preventing gaps in public representation on the Governing Board and statutory committees.

Company definition expansion under Company Law Board Regulations broadens coverage to include non-banking financial and foreign companies.
Regulations amend the Company Law Board Regulations, 1991 by expanding the definition of company to include non banking financial companies and foreign companies, and by incorporating references to the Reserve Bank of India Act into definitional and procedural provisions. Procedural changes substitute and omit specified section references, replace a regulation governing deposit applications with a requirement to use a designated form in duplicate, omit another regulation, and update Annexures II and III to substitute statutory citations, modify form wording, and remove certain entries.

SSI exemption amendment: non alloy steel ingots, billets and hot rolled products included when excise duty is paid under law.
Amendment adds two categories of non alloy steel-ingots and billets, and specified hot re rolled products-into the Annexure of Notification No.16/97, identified by tariff sub headings, and subjects their treatment to the payment of excise duty under the applicable statutory provision.

SSI exemption scope expanded to include specific ingots and hot re-rolled non-alloy steel where excise is paid under section 3A.
The notification amends the SSI exemption Annexure by adding: ingots and billets of non-alloy steel under specified sub-headings, and specified hot re-rolled non-alloy steel products under listed sub-headings, in each case only where excise duty has been paid under the relevant statutory excise provision, thereby incorporating those tariff classifications into the exemption schedule.

Excise duty exemption for induction furnace and hot re rolled non alloy steel clarifies capped duty rates on specified clearances.
The Government exempts specified goods manufactured in induction furnace units or hot re-rolling mills from excise duty in excess of specified capped amounts per metric tonne, applicable only to goods manufactured before 1 August 1997 and cleared on or after that date. The schedule lists three categories-ingots and billets from induction furnaces; hot re rolled non alloy steel from hot re rolling mills; and hot re rolled products from mills with a finishing mill nominal diameter on the last stand not exceeding 200 millimetres-each with a defined duty cap. "Nominal diameter of a finishing mill" is defined as the distance between pinion centres of the last rolling stand.

Exemption of waste and scrap: no duty when produced during manufacture of specified non alloy steel if excise is paid.
Exempts waste and scrap under the Central Excise Tariff when such waste and scrap arises in the course of manufacture of specified non alloy steel ingots and billets in an induction furnace unit, or specified hot re rolled non alloy steel products in a hot re rolling mill, provided the duty of excise is paid on the manufacturing operation.

Excise duty on hot re-rolled steel set on production capacity basis, with specified plant and pre-existing stock exemptions.
The notification prescribes an excise duty on hot re-rolled products of non-alloy steel levied on the basis of annual production capacity determined under the Hot Re-rolling Mills Annual Capacity Determination Rules, 1997, at Rs. 400 per metric tonne, and excludes pre-1 August 1997 manufacture cleared thereafter, specified composite plants combining induction furnace and re-rolling facilities, and integrated steel plants producing from iron ore within the same premises.

Excise duty on non-alloy steel ingots and billets imposed based on annual production capacity under capacity determination rules.
Specification of a rate of excise duty on non-alloy steel ingots and billets produced in induction furnaces, to be calculated on the annual production capacity determined under the Induction Furnace Annual Capacity Determination Rules, 1997, applying to specified tariff sub-headings and subject to enumerated exclusions for pre-existing clearances, incidental production by casting or stainless units, composite plants with secondary refining and continuous casting (and where applicable re-rolling mills), and integrated steel plants producing from iron ore.

Rescission of Central Excise notifications removes specified tariff exemptions under statutory powers in the Central Excise Act.
The Central Government, exercising statutory powers under the Central Excise Act, 1944, rescinds earlier tariff-related notifications issued in July 1997, withdrawing the miscellaneous exemptions and other reliefs conferred by those instruments and removing their operative force.

Inclusion of non-alloy steel inputs expands Modvat coverage to ingots, billets and hot re-rolled products under excise-paid conditions.
The notification amends the Table to Notification No. 5/94 by adding two entries for non-alloy steel: (v) ingots and billets classifiable under specified tariff headings, and (vi) hot re-rolled products classifiable under specified tariff headings, in both column (2) and column (3); both categories apply where excise duty has been paid under section 3A, thereby including these steel items within the Modvat provisions of the notification.

Duty liability for non-alloy steel: new per-tonne payment regime, lapse of credits, and prescribed payment and abatement procedures.
The amendment prescribes levy and collection procedures under section 3A for non-alloy steel ingots, billets and hot re-rolled products, inserts related entries in rules 57F and 57Q, and creates section E-XI establishing per-tonne debit requirements at clearance, annual and interim payment calculations tied to capacity determinations, adjustment of on-account payments, an 18% per annum interest on outstanding sums, conditions for abatement during closures, optional lump-sum or monthly discharge schemes with pro rata adjustments, and a retrospective preamble change referencing section 3A read with section 37.

Annual capacity determination for hot re-rolling mills set by declared machine parameters, statutory formula, and commissioner verification.
These Rules set out the prescribed formula and procedural steps for determining the annual capacity of non-alloy hot re-rolled steel products: mills must declare machine parameters to the Commissioner, who verifies them and applies a statutory formula with prescribed deemed factors for efficiency and weight and prescribed utilised hours by furnace type; the Commissioner issues provisional or final capacity orders, and manufacturers must notify and obtain approval before any machinery changes affecting formula parameters, with part-year capacity calculated pro rata.

Designation of hot re-rolled non-alloy steel as notified goods under Section 3A; excise duty applies subject to specified exclusions.
Hot re-rolled products of non-alloy steel within specified tariff sub-headings are designated as notified goods under Section 3A, attracting excise duty to be levied and collected to safeguard revenue where manufactured in a hot re-rolling steel mill. The notification excludes goods made prior to 1 August 1997 but cleared later, and excludes outputs of composite plants combining induction furnace and refining or continuous casting with re-rolling, and outputs of integrated steel plants producing from iron ore within the same premises.

Notified goods designation for induction furnace non alloy steel ingots and billets triggers excise duty under section 3A.
Ingots and billets of non alloy steel manufactured in an induction furnace and classifiable under sub headings 7206.90 and 7207.90 are specified as notified goods on which excise duty shall be levied and collected under section 3A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, due to the manufacturing process and extent of duty evasion, subject to enumerated exclusions for prior production, incidental production by casting or stainless units, composite plants with secondary refining and continuous casting (and re rolling where applicable), and integrated steel plants producing from iron ore within the same premises.

Rescission of notifications: central excise powers used to withdraw specified non tariff notifications, removing them from effect.
The Central Government, invoking statutory powers under the Central Excise Act and the Central Excise Rules, rescinds Notification Nos. 22/97, 23/97, 25/97, 26/97 and 27/97 (non-tariff notifications issued in July 1997), thereby withdrawing those non-tariff notifications as an administrative regulatory action.

Removal from warehouse: amendment adds Tiruchirapalli as an authorized destination for mineral oil transfers under Chapter VII notification.
The Central Government amends the Central Excise notification regulating removals of mineral oil products under Chapter VII by inserting item (zzza) to add Tiruchirapalli in the Tiruchirapalli Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar District of Tamilnadu to the list of places eligible for transfer between warehouses, thereby modifying Notification No. 266/67-C.E. under the Central Excise Rules, 1944.

Anti-dumping duty on nitrile rubber imports Germany and Korea applied, exporters designated and rates set, effective from provisional date.
Pursuant to section 9A(1) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 read with Rules 18 and 20 of the 1995 Anti Dumping Rules, the Central Government imposes anti-dumping duties on acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) originating in or exported from Germany and the Republic of Korea. Duties are specified by exporter and by exporter other categories, stated per metric tonne, and are to be levied with effect from the date on which the provisional duty was imposed.

Safeguard duty procedures enable provisional and final duties to address serious injury from increased imports to domestic industry.
These rules provide for investigation and imposition of safeguard duty where increased imports cause or threaten serious injury to domestic industry: a Director General (Safeguard) examines evidence of increased imports, injury and causal link, issues public notices, conducts investigations with opportunity for interested parties to comment, may record preliminary findings and prompt provisional duty in critical circumstances, and makes final findings and recommendations on duty amount, duration and progressive liberalisation; duties are non discriminatory, time limited, refundable insofar as provisional duty exceeds final duty, and subject to periodic review.

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.