Special Economic Zone designation grants inland container depot status and establishes an Approval Committee for governance.
Central Government notifies a sector specific SEZ for IT/ITES including Electronic Hardware in Coimbatore under the SEZ Act, identifies the constituent land parcels and total area, constitutes an Approval Committee with specified ex officio members and developer special invitee, and declares the SEZ to be deemed an Inland Container Depot under the Customs Act from the appointed date.

Tax exemption approval for educational trust subject to application, investment, audit and dissolution conditions and compliance.
Approval is granted to Sudharsan Educational Trust subject to conditions: income must be applied or accumulated solely for educational objects with accumulation over fifteen percent limited to five years; funds must be invested only in permitted modes except voluntary contributions in jewellery or furniture; approval excludes income from trade or business activities; statutory audit and filing of returns with audit report are required; on dissolution surplus assets must go to a non-profit educational organization; anonymous donations are excluded; approval may be withdrawn for non compliance.

Certificate of origin requirements updated: stricter issuance, validity, presentation and verification rules for preferential tariff claims.
Amendment requires products claiming preferential concessions under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement to be supported by a prescribed Certificate of Origin issued by a designated Issuing Authority. The annex sets formal certificate requirements (format, unique reference, issuance timing, validity, anti tampering and regional content disclosure), rules for submission to Customs including late acceptance in specified circumstances, documentation for transit through non Participating territories, procedures for change of destination and exhibition sales, and a structured origin verification process including verification requests, timelines, possible suspension of preferential treatment and consultation procedures.

Research approval enables donations to qualify for income tax relief, subject to accounting, audit and reporting compliance.
Approval is granted to Eye Research Centre as an approved institution for income tax relief for scientific research, subject to conditions that receipts be used for research, research be conducted by faculty or enrolled students, separate books of account be maintained and audited by a qualified accountant with the audit report and a certified statement of donations and application of funds furnished to the tax authority by the return due date; the Central Government may withdraw approval for failure to comply or if research is not genuine.

Research approval under section 35(1)(ii) recognised, subject to accounting, audit and genuine research compliance conditions.
Man Made Textile Research Association, Surat is approved as an approved institution under section 35(1)(ii) effective 1-4-2008, in the category of other institutions partly engaged in research. Approval is subject to: utilization of sums for scientific research; research conducted by faculty or enrolled students; maintenance of separate books for research receipts and expenditure with an auditor's report filed with the tax return; and a separate certified statement of donations and amounts applied for research. Approval may be withdrawn for failures as specified.

Special Economic Zone designation establishes Kollupalayam for IT/ITES and electronic hardware with committee and ICD status.
Notification designates a sector-specific Special Economic Zone at Kollupalayam Village, Coimbatore for Information Technology Enabled Services and Electronic Hardware with a total notified area of 20.43 hectares by specified survey numbers; constitutes an Approval Committee with listed ex officio members and a developer special invitee; and appoints the July 2009 date as the date from which the SEZ shall be deemed an Inland Container Depot under the Customs Act, 1962.

Sector-specific Special Economic Zone for IT/ITES and Electronic Hardware notified, enabling development and operation under SEZ Act.
Notification under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 designates a sector-specific Special Economic Zone for Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Services and Electronic Hardware at Kollupalayam, identifying the constituent survey numbers and aggregating the notified land area to 20.43 hectares, and authorising the promoter to develop, operate and maintain the SEZ pursuant to statutory powers and the SEZ Rules.

Exemption for packaged software from additional customs duty where the right to use is transferred for commercial exploitation.
Exempts packaged or canned software from additional customs duty to the extent of the value representing consideration for transfer of the right to use, where the transfer is for commercial exploitation including reproduction, distribution, sale and use of components in other IT products; requires an importer declaration to the relevant Customs officer and service tax registration by the importer; defines packaged software as software for a variety of users intended for sale off the shelf.

Exemption of mobile handset parts from additional customs duty, conditional on concessional import procedure, later rescinded.
Exempts parts, components and accessories of mobile handsets, including cellular phones, from the whole of the additional duty of customs, subject to the condition that importers follow the Customs procedure for concessional import for manufacture of excisable goods; the measure was temporary and later rescinded by a subsequent customs notification.

Customs duty on gold and silver increased, revising specified baggage import duty rates for affected notifications.
Amendments substitute higher customs duty figures in three principal notifications governing baggage and personal importation of gold and silver: the 1994 notification replaces the earlier per kilogram rate with a higher per kilogram rate; the 2003 and 2004 notifications substitute higher specified entries in their Tables for designated serial numbers, including per 10 grams and per kilogram entries, thereby revising the tariff rates applicable to gold and silver carried as personal effects.

Customs duty rates amended to add specific tariff entries, exemptions and conditional import undertakings for renewable energy and medical inputs.
The notification amends the tariff schedule and Annexure by rephrasing a proviso time-limit, inserting and substituting multiple tariff entries and duty rates (including new entries for permanent magnets for PM generators and LCD panels for TV manufacture), and by introducing condition 35A that conditions exemption on a ministry certificate and importer undertaking with repayment liability for non-use; it also expands lists of eligible pharmaceuticals and revises machinery and capital goods descriptions for manufacturing sectors.

Composition scheme valuation rules: clarified gross amount definition and option permissible only if declared value not less than gross amount.
Amendment defines gross amount charged for works contracts to include value of all goods and services used for execution while excluding value added tax or sales tax on transfer of goods and the cost of machinery and tools except hire charges; it preserves prior treatment where execution commenced or payments were made before the operative date. It further provides that the option under sub-rule (3) is permissible only when the declared value of the works contract is not less than the defined gross amount charged.

Territorial scope of India expanded to include continental shelf and exclusive economic zone for service tax applicability.
Amendment substitutes rule 2(e) to treat India as inclusive of installations, structures and vessels in the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone, thereby expanding the territorial scope for application of the Taxation of Services (Provided from outside India and Received in India) Rules. The change is effected under powers conferred by the Finance Act and is effective on publication in the Official Gazette.

Exemption for packaged software: right-to-use transfers for commercial exploitation untaxed when declared and registered.
Exempts packaged or canned software from the portion of excise duty attributable to consideration for transfer of the right to use where the transfer is for commercial exploitation, including rights to reproduce, distribute, sell and to use components in other IT products. The exemption requires the provider to make a declaration to the Assistant or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise regarding such transfers and to be registered under the applicable service tax registration rules. "Packaged software or canned software" is defined as software developed for a variety of users and intended for sale off the shelf.

Exemption for biodiesel blends: additional excise duty relief where blended diesel contains biodiesel and appropriate taxes paid.
Exempts additional duty of excise on high speed diesel blended with alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids from vegetable oils (biodiesel) where the blend is predominantly high speed diesel and contains biodiesel up to the specified proportion, provided the appropriate duties of excise on the diesel and the applicable central, State, Union territory or integrated taxes on the biodiesel have been paid; explanatory clauses define "appropriate duties of excise" and align applicable taxes with the GST framework.

Service tax territorial scope expanded to installations, structures and vessels in continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.
Amendment to Notification No. 1/2002 - Service Tax replaces the prior phrase beginning with "designated areas in the Continental Shelf" and ending with "with immediate effect" with the words "installations, structures and vessels in the continental shelf of India and the exclusive economic zone of India", thereby clarifying that the notification applies to those installations, structures and vessels within the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.

Exemption for tour operator services: service tax waived for contract carriage passenger transport excluding tourism and charter services.
Exempts the taxable service provided by a tour operator holding a contract carriage permit for inter state or intra state passenger transportation from the whole of service tax leviable thereon, while expressly excluding tourism, conducted tours, and charter or hire services; promulgated by Notification No. 20/2009 and later rescinded by Notification No. 34/2012.

Central excise tariff amendment removes several schedule entries and substitutes a classification, changing effective duty coverage.
Amendment procedurally modifies the Central Excise tariff schedule by omitting several listed serial entries from the principal notification and substituting a revised commodity classification for a specific table entry, thereby altering the operative entries used to determine the Effective Rate of Duty under the existing excise notification.

Currency carrying limit increase for export and import of currency establishes a higher threshold for physical carriage under amended regulations.
The amendment substitutes the figures in Regulation 3, sub regulation (1), clauses (a) and (c) of the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Currency) Regulations, 2000, raising the currency carrying limit by replacing the earlier figures with higher figures, effective from publication in the Official Gazette.

Excise duty reduction: peak Cenvat rates lowered and specified tariff headings set to an ad valorem plus per litre duty.
The notification amends a prior central excise notification to implement staged reductions in the peak Cenvat rate while excluding certain items, and substitutes the Table entry for a specified serial number to list particular tariff headings subject to a composite duty consisting of an ad valorem component plus a fixed per litre specific charge, effected by the named amending notification.