Minimum Export Price requirement for onions established; exports permitted only subject to MEP under amended export policy.
Export of onions described at Serial Numbers 51 and 52 of Chapter 7 of Schedule 2 of ITC(HS) is permitted only subject to a Minimum Export Price (MEP) on an F.O.B. basis, as specified by the DGFT; the notification makes the MEP the operative condition for exports and allows DGFT to notify revisions.

Repatriation basis securities transfers now governed by terms and conditions as may be specified by SEBI and the Reserve Bank.
The amendment to Schedule 5 standardizes provisions to permit purchase, issue, transfer and sale/redemption of specified securities by non resident persons on a repatriation basis and makes all such transactions subject to terms and conditions as may be specified by SEBI and the Reserve Bank of India, including purchases through SEBI registered Qualified Depository Participants and related sale or redemption mechanisms.

Foreign investment policy: sectoral FDI caps and routes revised, controlled-conditions defined and security-clearance rules tightened.
Amendments modify FDI/portfolio investment entries and definitions: Annex B heading changed to "% of Equity/FDI Cap"; under controlled conditions is defined for specified agricultural and animal activities; FPIs/FIIs are barred from fresh portfolio investment in defence with existing portfolio holdings capped at pre-specified levels; defence proposals follow government-route review with additional DoDP and CCS scrutiny where access to modern technology arises; security clearance, inspection, suspension and disqualification regimes are articulated for sensitive sectors; sectoral FDI caps and automatic/government route thresholds are updated for telecom, single brand retail, ARCs, commodity exchanges and aviation, with related compliance conditions.

Manufacture of notified manufactured drugs now excludes preparations from lawfully possessed materials and is subject to rule 36.
Rule 37(1) is substituted to provide that the manufacture of manufactured drugs notified under the Act is subject to the provisions of rule 36 and does not include preparations containing any manufactured drug made from materials which the maker is lawfully entitled to possess.

Cost records and audit requirements: companies must maintain detailed cost records and file audited cost reports electronically.
These Rules require companies in specified sectors to maintain detailed cost records in Form CRA-1 and, where thresholds are met, to appoint a qualified cost auditor and file appointment and audited reports electronically in Forms CRA-2, CRA-3 and CRA-4. The CRA-1 annexure prescribes exhaustive categories of cost records, allocation and disclosure methods, and requires periodic cost statements, reconciliation with financial accounts, and documentation of related party transactions, abnormal items and methods of valuation.

Special resolution timing: transitional extension allows delayed passing for specified non-convertible debenture offers made shortly after commencement.
The amendment to Rule 14(2)(a) inserts a proviso allowing that, for offers or invitations of non-convertible debentures made within the transitional period after commencement of the rules, the special resolution required by the existing proviso may be passed within that transitional period. The amendment is made by notification under section 42 read with section 469(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 and takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

Tariff value fixation updates substitute tables setting fixed US dollar reference values for specified imported commodities.
Substitutes TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 of the principal customs notification with schedules fixing US dollar tariff values for specified imported commodities: crude and refined palm oil and palmolein, crude soybean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds (per metric tonne), gold and silver when specified notification benefits are availed (per defined unit), and areca nuts (per metric tonne), to be used for customs valuation purposes under the Customs Act.

Issuance of warrants to non-residents now regulated under FDI rules, included alongside shares and convertible debentures.
The amendment expressly includes warrants as securities issuable to persons resident outside India and mandates that warrants be treated within the meaning of the Act. It permits issuance of partly paid equity while requiring preference shares and convertible debentures to be fully paid and convertible. Valuation and pricing for shares, convertible debentures and warrants require a certificate from a Chartered Accountant or SEBI-registered merchant banker; donees of partly paid instruments must declare awareness of liabilities. Consideration for issuance must follow specified inward remittance, NRE/FCNR(B) debit or escrow mechanisms, with refund rules where issuance does not occur within the prescribed period.

Central Excise amendment updates place name and tariff item identifiers in Annexure II, modifying entries for Uttarakhand.
This amendment to Notification No. 50/2003-Central Excise modifies ANNEXURE II for Uttarakhand, Udham Singh Nagar, Category (C) by substituting a locality name in the table and replacing two alphanumeric table identifiers with updated identifier formats, effectuating textual and identifier corrections under the enabling Central Excise and Additional Duties provisions.

Customs notification amendment designates a government virtual jetty for loading and unloading liquid cargo for export, import and coastal trade.
Amendment substitutes the virtual jetty entry at New Mangalore Port Trust, describing the government-owned jetty's physical configuration including jetty head, breasting and mooring dolphins, a projecting trestle and shore-to-lagoon projection, cardinal boundaries adjacent to service platform and water basins, the recorded wharf measurement, and expressly permitting loading and unloading of any class of export, import and coastal goods of liquid cargo; issued by the Commissioner of Customs under section 8(a) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Extension of jurisdiction: Hyderabad local office to exercise regulatory and investor protection functions over Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Extension of jurisdiction of the Local Office at Hyderabad broadens its territorial remit to include both the State of Telangana and the State of Andhra Pradesh, and the Local Office will continue to perform regulatory functions including investor protection, facilitating redressal of investor grievances, financial and investor education, and other functions as may be assigned.

Minimum export price requirement for potatoes introduced, permitting exports subject to MEP compliance.
A new Chapter 7, Schedule 2 export entry permits export of fresh or chilled potatoes (HS 07019000) as Free with immediate effect, subject to a Minimum Export Price (MEP); exporters must comply with the MEP requirement.

Delay interest on penalty payments: specified monthly interest accrues and recovery actions may follow for non payment.
The amendment to Form I requires that failure to deposit a penalty within the stipulated period attracts simple interest calculated monthly from the day after the demand period expires until payment, and authorises the Commission to take necessary recovery measures and actions for non compliance with its orders.

Exemption notification extension: validity of specified Central Excise exemption extended to a later date to serve public interest.
Amendment to a Central Excise exemption notification substitutes the terminal date in the opening paragraph's second proviso, extending the period during which the exemption remains effective under the authority of section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Resident individual capital account remittances operate under an annual foreign exchange limit, including gifts and donations.
Resident individuals may draw foreign exchange for Schedule I capital account transactions within an annual limit of USD 125,000 or a revised prescribed amount. Gift and donation remittances within specified current account transaction categories are subsumed within that limit. Drawals exceeding the annual limit remain subject to transaction-specific limits. Foreign exchange drawn under the annual limit cannot be used, directly or indirectly, for remittances to Financial Action Task Force-identified non-cooperative countries or territories.

Special Economic Zone designation enables inland container depot status and establishes approval committee for IT/ITES zone.
Notification designates a Special Economic Zone for IT/ITES at Muringur-Thekkumuri, Thrissur, Kerala (7.4909 hectares) after grant of a letter of approval; constitutes an Approval Committee comprising specified ex officio members and a developer representative; and declares the zone to be deemed an Inland Container Depot under the Customs Act effective 23 June 2014.

Rescission of Special Economic Zone notification: de-notification of a multi-service SEZ and cessation of designation.
The Central Government rescinds the notification under Section 4 read with Rule 8 of the SEZ Act and Rules cancelling the sector specific Multi Services SEZ notified for M/s. Reliance Haryana SEZ Limited in Gurgaon, following the promoter's proposal to de-notify the entire area, the State Government's No Objection, and the Development Commissioner's recommendation; the rescission preserves effects of actions done or omitted before it.

Provision of facility: companies may provide the specified facility by the prescribed deadline and wording clarified.
Amendment to Rule 20 inserts that companies may provide the facility referred to in Rule 20(1) on or before the 1st day of January, 2015, and substitutes in Rule 20(3) the words "which opts to provide" with "which provides," effecting a temporal allowance and a clarification from permissive to affirmative wording.

Prohibition on import of milk products from China extended as a regulatory trade restriction until further orders.
Prohibition on import of milk and milk products from China has been extended as a regulatory trade measure by amendment to ITC (HS) 2012, Schedule 1 (Import Policy). The ban covers chocolates, chocolate products, candies, confectionery and food preparations containing milk or milk solids and continues as an administrative restriction on imports from China for an additional year or until further orders.

Wealth tax returns must use Form BB and be filed electronically with digital signature, with limited paper filing exception.
The amendment substitutes rule 3 to require returns of net wealth in Form BA for years up to 2013-14 and in Form BB for 2014-15 onward; it mandates electronic filing with digital signature for 2014-15 onward except that individuals and HUFs not subject to audit under section 44AB may file paper returns for 2014-15, prohibits attaching computation, payment proofs or valuer reports to Form BB, and assigns the Director General (Systems) responsibility for secure procedures and archival standards for electronic returns.