Exemption for metal containers allowed where manufacture occurs without power or from pre-processed sheets by manufacturer.
The substituted entry conditions exemption for metal containers on two alternatives: (i) manufacture or related processes are ordinarily carried out without the aid of power; or (ii) the manufacturer produces the containers without the aid of power from sheets previously tinned, printed, coated or lacquered by others using power.

Standard rate of duty definition altered, excluding a specific notification and affecting tariff application to specified imports.
The amendment substitutes the Explanation in a customs exemption notification, redefining standard rate of duty as the rate specified in the First Schedule read with any other notifications in force issued under the Customs Act provision, but expressly excluding a particular earlier notification from that reading to clarify tariff applicability for imports under the Global System of Trade Preferences.

Special Tariff Concession defined as exemption from customs duty under a government notification, effective on publication.
The Government amends rule 3(d) of the 1976 Rules to define "Special Tariff Concession" as the exemption granted under the Government of India notification in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) from payment of customs duty leviable under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975; the amendment is effected under section 5(1) of the Act and takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

Customs amendment extends statutory time limits and adjusts ad valorem duty rates under specified notifications.
The amendments substitute the period in clause (b) of the opening paragraph in Notification Nos. 63/95-Cus. and 64/95-Cus. from three months to six months, and, in Notification No. 63/95-Cus., replace column (5) entries in the Table for List A S. No. 4 and List B S. No. 8 with an ad valorem duty specification, effected under section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Customs duty amendment reduces tariffs on specified imports, adding dental materials, data storage media, chemicals and agricultural equipment.
Central Government amends multiple customs notifications under section 25(1) of the Customs Act to add specified goods and prescribe or revise ad valorem duties. Additions include a detailed list of dental goods, CD-ROMs and floppy diskettes; chemical inputs such as naphthalene and carbon black feed stock (with an ad valorem rate); iodine; silanes/chlorosilanes and certain cyclic siloxanes (with a specified ad valorem rate); and entries imposing ad valorem duties on goods of Headings 76.03-76.16, button cells and agricultural silos.

Customs exemption for medical equipment imports subject to use undertakings, certification or evidence, and repayment on noncompliance.
Exempts specified medical and surgical goods, their accessories, manufacture parts and maintenance spare parts from basic and additional customs duty, subject to importer undertakings to use such items for manufacture or maintenance, to produce within a prescribed period certification or evidence of such use to the relevant Assistant Collector, and to pay on demand the duty differential if they fail to comply.

Life-saving drugs exemption expanded to include additional specified medicines and diagnostic kits under customs amendment.
The Central Government, exercising the powers under sub section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962, amends Notification No. 13/95 Customs by adding a series of named pharmaceuticals, biologics, immunoglobulins, vaccines and diagnostic kits to Schedule "A. Life Saving drugs or medicines (including diagnostic test kits)" after serial number 227, thereby incorporating those specified items into the Schedule of life saving drugs and medicines in the notification.

Exemption for job-work inputs expanded to allow clearance for export under bond or home consumption, subject to supplier undertaking.
Exemption from excise duty applies to specified goods manufactured as job work when used in manufacture of final products or cleared from the supplier's factory for export under bond or for home consumption on payment of duty. The supplier must give an undertaking to the Assistant Collector of Central Excise regarding intended use or removal, produce evidence of use or removal as prescribed, and accept responsibility for discharging excise duty liabilities on the final products.

Rescission of notification: prior exemption on waste and scrap withdrawn under section 5A(1) of excise law.
Under section 5A(1) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, the Central Government, by Notification No. 90/95-C.E. dated 18-5-1995, rescinds Notification No. 23/95-Central Excises dated 16 March 1995, withdrawing the earlier notification concerning waste and scrap.

Exemption for manufacturing waste: waste, parings and scrap from exempted goods relieved from excise duty, subject to restriction.
Waste, parings and scrap arising during manufacture of goods that are chargeable at a Nil rate or exempted by a qualifying notification are exempt from the whole of excise duty specified in the Tariff, provided they arise in manufacture of such exempted goods; the exemption does not apply where the factory also manufactures other excisable goods, and the definition of exempted goods excludes exemptions based solely on value or quantity of clearances.

Tariff amendment: Glass articles attract reduced excise duty while copper sulphate is granted excise exemption under amended notifications.
Notification No. 88/95-C.E. amends prior Central Excise notifications to (i) exempt copper sulphate by adding it to the Table of miscellaneous exemptions, and (ii) add goods under Heading 70.15 (glass articles) to the Table with excise duty set at 15 per cent ad valorem, pursuant to powers under section 5A(1) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944.

Excise exemptions for specified pile, chennile and tufted fabrics expanded; processed narrow fabrics now attract duty.
The notification amends prior central excise entries to exempt en pile, chennile and tufted fabrics when processed without power or steam, and to reclassify narrow fabrics under 30 cms by distinguishing composition and processing: narrow fabrics containing elastomeric yarn remain treated separately, unprocessed narrow fabrics remain exempt, while processed narrow fabrics attract an ad valorem duty.

Excise tariff amendment: textile exemptions and revised duty structure impose conditional nil and ad valorem rates.
The notification amends three Central Excise exemptions and tariff entries under section 5A, adding certain unprocessed textile trimmings (braids, ornamental trimmings without embroidery, tassels, pompons) at a nil rate, substituting a nil rate entry for rubberised textile fabrics (other than tyre cord fabric), and replacing the Table of rates to distinguish goods made with power (cotton and man made materials nil; other materials nil if unprocessed and no Modvat credit claimed, otherwise 15% ad valorem) from knitted narrow elastomeric fabrics at 15% ad valorem and goods made without power at nil.

Excise exemption for waste of man-made fibres caps duty to a specified ad valorem rate, excluding polymerising factories.
Exempts wastes of man-made staple fibres and man-made filament yarns in Chapters 54 and 55 from excise duty exceeding a specified ad valorem rate, while excluding from the exemption any factory that manufactures such fibres or filaments by polymerisation of organic polymers or by chemical transformation of natural organic polymers, regardless of whether the factory produces other goods.

Yarn exemption conditions: duty-free relief limited to processed yarn and supplies meeting purchaser/payment requirements; excludes single-yarn producers.
Amendment substitutes entries providing nil-duty treatment for yarn in Chapters 52, 54 and 55: processed yarn subjected to beaming, warping, wrapping, winding or reeling is exempt only if produced from yarn on which appropriate excise or additional duty has already been paid; yarn consumed in-factory to produce doubled, multifold or cabled yarn is exempt when sold to specified handloom bodies and paid for by cheque drawn on the purchaser's own account. A proviso excludes earlier exemptions from clearances by factories equipped to produce single yarn.

Modvat credit deletion removes specified duty credit provision for ship breaking inputs, altering eligibility and cap.
The amendment deletes the fourth proviso clause authorizing Modvat credit of specified duty paid in respect of inputs obtained from ship breaking under specified tariff headings and removes the per tonne cap on such credit.

Modvat credit protection: input credit preserved despite intermediate or capital goods exemptions, with procedural returns and enquiry powers.
Amendments clarify that Modvat credit cannot be denied because intermediate products arise or inputs are used in capital goods, even if those items are temporarily exempt or nil rated, provided intermediate products are used within the factory for dutiable final products and specified under notification; inputs used to generate electricity or steam within the factory also qualify. Procedural rules permit authorised removal of inputs outside the factory for specified operations after intimation, require monthly returns with duty documents for verification, and empower officers to require documents, examine persons, and reassess duty payable.

Customs duty exemption for specified chemicals capped at listed ad valorem rates, subject to stated import and use conditions.
The Central Government exempts specified chemical goods under Chapters 28 and 29 from customs duty exceeding the capped ad valorem rates listed in the Table, pairing tariff headings with descriptions and capped rates. Certain entries are subject to import-specific conditions: enriched uranium and uranium oxide for fuel element fabrication, heavy water for atomic power stations, 2,6-diethyl aniline for manufacture of Butachlor by actual users, and DDT only when imported by or for the central government or the national malaria eradication programme.

Tax-free bonds under income-tax exemption provision exempt income, subject to holder registration with the issuing agency for entitlement.
Central Government specifies tax-free bonds issued by a renewable energy finance agency under the income-tax exemption provision 10(15)(iv)(h), designating a defined series of bonds with specified distinctive numbers and nominal value per bond as eligible for exemption. The tax benefit is conditional on the holder registering their name and holding with the issuing agency; only registered holders qualify for the exemption under the notification.

Specified bonds under section 80L: Central Government lists secured redeemable non convertible bonds by MTNL as eligible.
The Central Government, under clause (ii) of sub section (1) of section 80L, specifies certain secured redeemable non convertible bonds as the instruments described: multiple series distinguished by tenure and taxable interest rates, each bond of one thousand rupees, identified by distinctive numbering ranges and aggregate issue values, thereby designating those listed tranches as specified securities for the purposes of section 80L.