Anti-dumping provisional assessment on specified producer/exporter pending review; importer liable for any duties from review initiation.
Findings established dumping and material injury from imports of vitrified and porcelain tiles from China and UAE; a prior anti-dumping duty was imposed. A Chinese producer and its Dubai exporter requested a new shipper review, and the designated authority recommended provisional assessment of their exports pending review. The Central Government ordered provisional assessment of imports from that producer/exporter until review completion, subject to security or guarantee to cover any deficiency, and confirmed importer liability for duties recommended on review from the review initiation date.

Jurisdiction over Permanent Account Number matters now vested in specified Chief Commissioners with permitted delegation to subordinate officers.
The notification directs specified Chief Commissioners of Income-tax, as listed in the newly inserted Schedule II, to exercise powers and perform functions relating to permanent account number matters for persons assessable by the Income-tax authorities identified in Schedule II, effective from 1st July, 2003. It substitutes references to the original Schedule with "Schedule I" and authorises a delegation chain whereby Chief Commissioners may authorise Commissioners, who may authorise Joint Commissioners, who in turn may authorise subordinate Assessing Officers to exercise those powers.

Approval under section 35: research institution granted tax-exemption eligibility subject to annual audited accounts and reporting requirements.
The Centre for Science & Environment was approved as a notified Institution for the period 14.1.2000 to 31.3.2002, subject to maintaining separate research accounts; filing an annual return of scientific research activities to the Secretary, Department of Scientific & Industrial Research by 31 May each year; and submitting copies of audited annual accounts and audited income & expenditure accounts for the approved research activities to specified income-tax and scientific authorities by 31 October each year, alongside the return of income-tax. Renewal applications must be made in triplicate through the tax exemptions authority and directly to the Secretary, DSIR.

Tax exemption for SLR power bonds specified under income-tax law, covering bonds issued on or after October.
Notification under section 10(15) designates the "8.5% Tax Free SLR Power Bonds" issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of State Governments as qualifying for the income-tax exemption, and specifies operative issuance terms including issuance timing, issuing authority, prescribed interest rate, fixed long-term tenure, and the aggregate number and principal amount of bonds covered.

Excise exemption scope narrowed: compressed natural gas expressly excluded from the "natural gas" exemption, altering tariff coverage.
The Central Government, under section 5A(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, amends Notification No. 6/2002 by substituting in the Table against S. No. 35, column (3) the words "Natural Gas (other than Compressed Natural Gas)", thereby excluding compressed natural gas from the term "Natural Gas" for the purposes of that exemption.

Tax exemption under clause 23C(v) of section 10 granted conditionally, subject to application of income and compliance requirements.
Notification under clause (23C)(v) of section 10 designates Shri Dwarkadhishji Mandir for exemption, conditioned on exclusive application or accumulation of income for institutional objects, investment of funds only in forms permitted by section 11(5) (except certain voluntary contributions), exclusion of business income unless incidental and separately accounted, regular filing of income-tax returns, and transfer of surplus and assets on dissolution to a charitable organisation with similar objectives.

Duty exemption amendment removes previously inserted provisos, restoring original conditions across multiple customs notifications.
Amendment directs removal of provisos inserted earlier into multiple customs duty exemption notifications, restoring the original conditions by omitting particular provisos from specified conditions or clauses in the listed notifications. The instrument lists each principal notification and the corresponding clause from which the proviso is to be omitted, and frames the action as taken in the public interest under the powers of the Central Government.

CENVAT credit utilisation limited to duty on exempted final products; special dispensation preserves credit for specified region inputs.
The amendment replaces the proviso to rule 3(3) to require that CENVAT credit on inputs used in final products cleared after availing certain exemption notifications be utilized only for payment of duty on those specific final products. It also substitutes rule 10 to provide that where inputs or capital goods manufactured in designated regions were cleared under specified exemption notifications, CENVAT credit shall be admissible as if no portion of the duty on those items was exempted.

Excise duty exemption for Sikkim manufacturers tied to value addition, with procedural refund and CENVAT credit conditions.
Exemption from central excise duty for goods cleared from units in Sikkim is limited to the portion of duty equivalent to value addition, calculated either by prescribed percentage rates in a tariff-linked Table or, on application and verification, by a Commissioner-fixed special rate reflecting actual value addition. Claimants must utilize CENVAT credit first (where applicable), submit monthly statements of duty and CENVAT utilisation, and obtain refunds or account-current credits under specified timelines and verification, with provisions for provisional refunds, reversals of excess credit and recovery of irregularly availed amounts.

Drawback rules amendment removes specified Chapter 73 tariff entries, narrowing the prior notification's scope effective July.
Amendment omits four specified serial/sub serial entries in the annexed table to Notification No. 26/2003 Customs(N.T.), removing those Chapter 73 product classifications from the notification; the change is made under the Drawback Rules, 1995 and takes effect on 1st July, 2003.

Exchange rate determination sets official conversion rates for foreign currencies for export goods effective from July.
The Board prescribes specified rates of exchange for listed foreign currencies to be used for conversion to and from Indian rupees for export goods, effective 1st July, 2003, superseding the prior notification and issued under the statutory powers of the Customs Act, 1962; Schedule I sets unit-equivalent rupee rates for major currencies, while Schedule II sets the rupee equivalent for the Japanese Yen.

Exchange Rate Determination sets conversion rates for foreign currencies applicable to imports, superseding prior notification and fixing new rates.
The Board determines exchange rates for import valuation under the Customs Act, fixing specified rupee conversion rates for listed foreign currencies (per unit or per hundred units as set out in two schedules) effective from 1st July 2003, and superseding the prior notification dated 27th May 2003.

Customs duty reduction on set-top box parts enacted, inserting nil-duty tariff entries into the existing notification.
Reduction to basic customs duty implemented by inserting nil-duty entries for parts of set-top boxes into the existing tariff notification framework under section 3A, amending Notification No. 23/2002-Customs to add specific serial entries that assign Nil duty to goods specified by reference to Notification No. 21/2002-Customs, thereby extending exemption treatment to identified set-top box components.

Duty reduction on parts of set top boxes provides concessional import treatment for specified components under customs notification.
The Government amends Notification No. 21/2002 Customs by inserting S.No. 316B under heading 8529 to classify specified parts of set top boxes (tuner; RF modulator; remote control unit) for use in manufacture and to prescribe a reduced duty structure; additionally, the entry in column (6) against S.No. 360 is replaced with a dash.

Excise exemption for integrated receiver decoders: set top boxes added to exemption table, attracting nil central excise duty.
Notification No. 55/2003-CE (24/06/2003) amends Notification No. 6/2002 by inserting tariff entry 205A in Chapter 85 for Integrated Receiver Decoder (Set top Box), placing it in the miscellaneous exemptions table with nil central excise duty.

ITC(HS) classification amendment: specified import items removed after rescission of prior administrative orders, altering import controls.
Amendment to the ITC(HS) Classifications inserts a note at the end of Appendix III to Schedule I (Imports) deleting items listed at sl.no.69-76 because the administrative orders governing those items have been rescinded, thereby removing those items from the import schedule under the Foreign Trade statutory framework.

Doon Valley exemption scope amended to reference notified industries for Uttaranchal central excise relief.
The Central Government directs substitution, in the Annexures of notifications 49/2003 and 50/2003, of the entry against S. No. 21 so that the activity reads: "Industries, notified under the Doon Valley notification (S.O. 102(E), dated the 1st February, 1989) as amended from time to time, issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, in the Doon Valley area of the State of Uttaranchal."

Service tax exemption for mandap services clarifies tax-free provision of religious precincts for ceremonial use.
The Central Government exempts taxable services provided by a mandap keeper for use of the precincts of a religious place as a mandap from service tax; "religious place" means a place meant for conduct of prayers or worship pertaining to a religion. The exemption was to come into force on the first day of July after notification and was subsequently rescinded by a later notification.

Exemption for commission agents from service tax for services relating to agricultural produce, subject to defined processing.
Exemption from service tax is granted for business auxiliary services provided by commission agents in relation to the sale or purchase of agricultural produce under section 66, effective 1 July 2003; "agricultural produce" is defined to include primary cultivation outputs on which only limited processing by the cultivator is done that does not alter essential characteristics and excludes manufactured products. Subsequent notifications substituted wording clarifying the exemption's scope and altered or omitted an earlier definition of "commission agent."

Exemption for goods and materials supplied with taxable services reduces service tax base when documentary proof exists.
The notification exempts from service tax an amount equal to the value of goods and materials sold by the service provider to the recipient, on condition that there is documentary proof specifically indicating that value. The exemption applies only where no cenvat credit on such goods and materials has been taken, or where such credit was taken, the service provider has paid an amount equal to that credit before the sale.