Anti-dumping duty on imported plastic processing machines imposed to counter dumped imports from specified Asian countries.
Anti-dumping duties are imposed on injection moulding machines (clamping force 40-3200 tonnes) under tariff item 8477 10 00 originating in or exported from Chinese Taipei, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. The duties-specified as ad valorem percentages of the landed value defined by assessable value under the Customs Act-are allocated by country, exporter and producer; certain named exporters and producers have distinct rates or nil duty. Specified machinery types are excluded and the levy applies for five years, payable in Indian currency.

Winding up notified: National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council dissolved with immediate effect after CCEA decision.
Central Government has issued a notification effecting the winding up of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, implementing a prior decision of the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs and declaring the Council dissolved with immediate effect through a formal Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion notification.

Anti-dumping duty amendment substitutes specified table entries to designate Taiwan and People's Republic of China as exporting origins.
Notification No. 8/2016-Customs (ADD) amends Notification No. 27/2014-Customs (ADD) by substituting entries in the Table: column (5) for serial numbers 3, 4 and 5 is replaced with "Taiwan" and column (5) for serial number 12 is replaced with "People's Republic of China", effected under the Customs Tariff Act and the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti-dumping Duty) Rules.

Buyback accounting basis updated: calculations may use recent unaudited accounts within six months subject to limited review.
Where audited accounts are more than six months old, buy back calculations shall be based on unaudited accounts not older than six months from the date of the offer document, provided those unaudited accounts have been subjected to limited review by the auditors of the company.

Debt-to-capital ratio prescribed for government companies carrying out non-banking finance and housing finance activities under Companies Act notification
Central Government, under the proviso to clause (d) of sub-section (2) of the Companies Act, 2013, notifies that the debt to capital and free reserves ratio shall be six-to-one for government companies carrying on Non-Banking Finance Institution activities and Housing Finance activities, thereby prescribing a statutory leverage limit for those government-owned entities.

Anti-dumping duty on polypropylene from Singapore: specified exporter-based rates imposed, payable in domestic currency.
Imposition of anti-dumping duty on Polypropylene from or exported from Singapore with specified US dollar-per-metric-tonne rates applied differently to identified producers and exporters (including nil rates for certain producer-exporter pairings); effective for five years and payable in Indian currency, with exchange rate for conversion determined by the notification under section 14 of the Customs Act and the relevant date as the bill of entry presentation date.

Anti-dumping duty on phenol: exporter- and producer-specific duties imposed to counter dumping and protect domestic industry.
Definitive anti-dumping duty is imposed on imports of Phenol (tariff item 2907 11 10) from the European Union, Singapore and Korea RP following findings of dumping and material injury; the notification prescribes exporter and producer specific duty rates per metric tonne in US dollars, includes nil-duty exceptions for certain named producers/exporters, and applies for five years from Gazette publication with duties payable in Indian currency using the government-specified exchange rate.

Swachh Bharat Cess reporting: new Form ST-3 fields now require detailed payment, adjustment and arrears entries.
The amendment inserts specific Form ST-3 entries for Swachh Bharat Cess: provider and receiver table lines to compute Cess payable, a deposit line for Cess deposited in advance, a new Part DA to record cash payments and adjustments (including advance deposits, excess payments and book adjustments) with a total, arrears/interest/penalty lines for Cess, and revised challan and source-document headings to incorporate Swachh Bharat Cess and the new DA and arrears columns.

Foreign portfolio investor acquisition restriction: FPIs may acquire depository shares only through the secondary market under prescribed limits.
Regulation 7 is amended to make combined holdings subject to limits prescribed by the Central Government, to omit specified sub clauses, and to insert a proviso that no foreign portfolio investor shall acquire depository shares other than through the secondary market. The term "institutional" is replaced by "portfolio" in the relevant clause and in Form E, clause 3(f) of the First Schedule.

Foreign portfolio investor restrictions: acquisition of exchange or clearing corporation shares limited to secondary market under amended regulations.
The amendments insert the qualifier "Subject to the limits as otherwise prescribed by the Central Government from time to time" before references to combined holdings, harmonise wording and punctuation, omit certain sub-clauses, and crucially add provisos that no foreign portfolio investor shall acquire shares of a recognised stock exchange or recognised clearing corporation otherwise than through the secondary market; they also substitute "portfolio" for "institutional" in specified provisions and update an explanatory cross-reference.

Special Economic Zone de-notification reverses SEZ status for an IT/ITES site after proponent proposal and state no objection.
The Central Government rescinds the notification that designated a sector specific Special Economic Zone for information technology and information technology enabled services at Village Kharadi, Pune, following the developer's proposal to de notify the entire area, the State Government's no objection, and the Development Commissioner's recommendation; the rescission does not affect acts lawfully done or omitted prior to its effect.

Special Economic Zone designation for IT/ITES at Gokul grants SEZ status and deems it an Inland Container Depot.
Notification designates 17.422 hectares at Village Gokul, Hubli, Dharwad as a Sector Specific Special Economic Zone for information technology and information technology enabled services proposed by M/s. Infosys Limited, records grant of the Letter of Approval under section 3, lists the constituent survey numbers, constitutes an Approval Committee with specified ex officio members and a developer representative, and appoints a February 2016 date from which the SEZ shall be deemed an Inland Container Depot for purposes of the Customs Act.

Form GE-II filing: returns due and goods description field made non mandatory; work contract procurements excluded.
Directs filing of Form GE-II returns for the first three quarters by 15 March, 2016; makes sub field 5 of field 4 (description of goods purchased) non mandatory; and clarifies that purchases via work contract activities are excluded from Form GE-II where government entities must issue tax deduction at source certificates and file the prescribed return for such deductions. The notification is effective immediately.

Adjustment of asset and turnover thresholds via wholesale price index increases values for application of section 5 merger provisions.
Central Government, in consultation with the Competition Commission of India and under sub-section (3) of Section 20 of the Competition Act, 2002, enhances the value of assets and value of turnover on the basis of the Wholesale Price Index for the purposes of Section 5 of the Act, effective from the date of publication of the notification in the Official Gazette.

Exemption for groups with minority voting control from Section 5 obligations, temporarily removing combination scrutiny.
The Central Government exempts a Group exercising less than fifty per cent of voting rights in another enterprise from the provisions of section 5 of the Competition Act, 2002, under clause (a) of section 54, effective from publication in the Official Gazette for a period of five years.

Combination exemption for small target enterprises, temporarily relieving certain acquisitions from merger provisions under notification.
Notification exempts enterprises being acquired from section 5 of the Competition Act, 2002 where the target has either assets up to rupees three hundred and fifty crores in India or turnover up to rupees one thousand crores in India; the exemption covers acquisitions of control, shares, voting rights or assets and was granted for five years from publication, and was later rescinded by a subsequent statutory order.

Safeguard measures to address serious injury from tariff driven import surges enable provisional and final remedial duties and review.
These Rules establish procedures for investigating and recommending safeguard measures where increased imports from ASEAN, linked significantly to tariff concessions under the India ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry. The Director General (Safeguard) must assess objective, quantifiable factors, verify evidentiary sufficiency before initiating investigations, publish notices, allow participation by interested parties, treat confidential information appropriately, and recommend provisional or definitive measures, their duration, progressive liberalisation and reviews to the Central Government.

State Level Committee composition required to consider and recommend subsidy claims under the Freight Subsidy Scheme.
Amendment prescribes that the State Government/Union Territory Administration shall set up a State Level Committee (SLC) to consider and recommend all subsidy claims under the Freight Subsidy Scheme. The SLC must include the Principal Secretary/Secretary (Industry), Director of Industries, and one representative each from the Finance Department, Excise and Taxation Department (Excise Commissioner), Transport Department, the nodal agency, and the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Government of India.

Exchange rate determination fixes official import and export conversion rates for specified foreign currencies for customs valuation.
Determination of official exchange rates under the Customs Act authority fixing distinct conversion rates for imported and export goods; Schedule I lists per unit rates for specified currencies and Schedule II lists per hundred unit rates for other currencies. The notification is effective from the stated date and supersedes the prior notification except as to actions already done or omitted.

Depreciation for oil wells amended to a specified written-down-value rate under Income-tax Rules, effective thereafter.
The Income-tax (4th Amendment) Rules, 2016 insert a new sub-item (c) in APPENDIX I, PART A (Tangible Assets), III. Machinery and Plant, item (8)(xii) for Mineral oil concerns, specifying a depreciation allowance as a percentage of written down value for oil wells not covered by existing clauses (a) and (b); the change is effected under section 295 read with section 32 of the Income-tax Act by Notification No. 13/2016.