Removal of export prohibition on cotton restores free export subject to prior contract registration and RC revalidation.
Removal of the prohibition on export of cotton makes Tariff Codes 5201 and 5203 free for export subject to prior registration of contracts with DGFT. RCs valid at the time of the earlier prohibition and lacking LEOs must be submitted to DGFT for scrutiny and revalidation before exports may proceed; the RC issuance procedure remains as previously notified and Policy Circular No. 58 applies to RCs with issued LEOs.

Cenvat misuse enforcement: withdrawal of facilities and restrictions where deliberate wrongful duty payment or bogus invoices are prima facie found.
Where manufacturers, dealers, or exporters are prima facie found knowingly involved in wrongful non payment or under declaration of excise duty, misuse of CENVAT credit, issuance of invoices without delivery, or use of documents believed not genuine, an officer authorised by the Central Board may withdraw facilities or impose restrictions. Restrictions include withdrawal of monthly duty payment, prohibition on CENVAT utilisation for duty, recordkeeping and inspection requirements, countersigned invoices for repeat offenders, suspension of dealer registration, and withdrawal of self sealing for exporters. A tiered review and hearing procedure precedes Board orders.

Power to impose restrictions permits government to restrict manufacturers, dealers, or exporters to prevent excise duty evasion.
Rule 12CCC empowers the Central Government to, by notification, specify restrictions on manufacturers, first and second stage dealers, or exporters where the extent of duty evasion, nature of offences or other factors make such measures necessary to prevent evasion and default; permitted measures include suspension of dealer registration, withdrawal of facilities, and a prescribed procedure for orders by an officer authorised by the Board.

Restrictions on CENVAT credit misuse allow government to notify utilisation limits, suspend registrations and withdraw facilities.
The amendment substitutes rule 12AA with rule 12AAA, empowering the Central Government to notify restrictions to prevent misuse of CENVAT credit. Notified measures may include limits on utilization of CENVAT credit, suspension of dealer registration, withdrawal of facilities and specification of the procedure for issuance of such orders by an officer authorised by the Board.

Deduction under section 35AC: government notification approves eligible social welfare projects and specifies deductible project costs.
Government notification under Explanation (b) to section 35AC approves specified institutions and their named projects or schemes as eligible for deduction, sets the estimated project costs and specifies the maximum amount of such cost allowable as deduction for the period of approval, and records that the approval remains in force for three financial years commencing with 2012-13 for the listed projects.

Duty-free re-import of certified cut and polished diamonds permitted subject to exporter eligibility, certification and matching standards.
Customs duty and integrated tax are exempted for re-imported cut and polished diamonds certified by laboratories or agencies notified in the Foreign Trade Policy, provided exporters meet eligibility criteria, each diamond meets a minimum carat weight, re-import occurs within the prescribed period (with specified extensions where applicable), certification/grading reports are produced, and the re-imported stones match the export invoice in value and dimensions subject to specified tolerances. Authorised national offices of the notified laboratories may act on behalf of exporters if core conditions are met.

Customs exemption for aviation turbine fuel remnant used in aero shows now permitted, altering notification conditions.
The notification amends Notification No.3/89-Customs to carve out aviation turbine fuel consumed during an aero show from a fuels exclusion, expressly exempting aviation turbine fuel contained as remnant fuel in aircraft arriving from outside India when consumed during an aero show, and adds "Aero show organised by the Central Government" to Schedule II.

Status Holder Incentive Scrip extension broadens the qualifying export period and eligibility under customs exemption rules.
Amendment broadens temporal eligibility for the Status Holder Incentive Scrip (SHIS) by substituting condition (1) of Notification No. 104/2009-Customs to include exports made during 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13, and specified products exported during 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13, thereby extending the SHIS scheme's qualifying period.

VAT exemption/refund for Republic of Burundi diplomats and embassy purchases; introduces minimum invoice threshold for refunds.
The Sixth Schedule of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004 is amended by inserting a new sub-entry recognizing the Republic of Burundi for exemption/refund of VAT on official purchases of its Embassy in New Delhi and personal purchases of its diplomats; eligibility for refund is subject to a prescribed minimum invoice value.

Indian Depository Receipts: new rules let domestic depositories hold underlying foreign shares and set redemption conditions.
Regulation 2 adds definitions for Domestic Depository, Eligible Company and Indian Depository Receipts by reference to the Companies (Issue of Indian Depository Receipts) Rules, 2004, with the Regulations deemed effective from 22 July 2009. Regulation 22(7) permits a Domestic Depository to acquire, hold and transfer equity shares abroad as underlying shares for issuing IDRs, and sets redemption conditions: listed companies and SEBI registered mutual funds may sell or retain underlying shares pursuant to specified Regulations of the principal FEMA Notification, while other residents including individuals may hold underlying shares only to sell within 30 days of conversion.

Indian Depository Receipts: Eligible foreign companies may issue INR denominated IDRs subject to regulatory compliance and investor conditions.
Eligible companies resident outside India may issue Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs) through a Domestic Depository to persons resident in India and abroad, subject to compliance with the Companies (Issue of Indian Depository Receipts) Rules, 2004 and SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009; financial/banking issuers with presence in India require prior sectoral regulator approval; IDRs must be denominated in Indian Rupees and proceeds immediately repatriated. SEBI-registered FIIs and NRIs may purchase, hold or sell IDRs subject to conditions including investment from specified NRI accounts, non-automatic fungibility, one-year minimum before redemption into equity, and compliance with foreign exchange conversion provisions.

Security classification: Indian Depository Receipts are treated as securities under the foreign exchange regulatory framework.
The Reserve Bank notifies that Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs), as defined under the Companies (Issue of Indian Depository Receipts) Rules, 2004, are to be treated as a security for the purposes of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, bringing IDRs within the regulatory and compliance framework applicable to securities under foreign exchange law.

Limits and margin requirements extended to include prescribed collateral stipulations for transfers or issues of securities by non-residents.
Amendment incorporates prescribed limits and margin requirements and stipulations regarding collateral securities into regulation 5, tying compliance for transfers or issues of securities by persons resident outside India to regulatory prescriptions as specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time; the Amendment Regulations are given retrospective effect from April 12, 2010 and include a clarification that no person will be adversely affected by that retrospective application.

Special Economic Zone boundary revision denotifies specified land, adds parcels, and revises the information technology zone's resultant area.
Special Economic Zone boundaries for information technology and information technology enabled services, including electronic hardware and software, are revised through denotification of 3.0980 hectares and addition of 1.8600 hectares and 5.0917 hectares. The revisions apply to specified survey parcels in Rachenahalli, Nagavara and Tarasandra. The operative provision states a resultant zone area of 26.2016 hectares, while the accompanying survey-wise table records a resultant total of 26.2017 hectares.

Interest exemption on notified bonds: aligns QIB definition with SEBI and sets investor classification for retail versus high networth.
Amendment to the income-tax notification revises nomenclature to "Rural Electrification Corporation Limited" and substitutes the Explanation: Qualified Institutional Buyers adopt the meaning from the SEBI (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) Regulations, 2008, and individual investors are classified into retail investor and High Networth Individual categories based on specified investment thresholds for applying the exemption for interest on notified bonds and debentures of public sector companies.

Denotification of Special Economic Zone land reduces notified area following approval under Special Economic Zones Act and SEZ Rules.
Acting under the second proviso to sub-section (1) of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and rule 8 of the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006, the Central Government approves the developer's proposal and denotifies an area of 7.399 hectares within the sector specific IT/ITES SEZ at Devarabeesanahalli, Bhoganahalli and Doddakanahalli, specifying parcel-level survey numbers and resultant notified area.

Special Economic Zone designation for IT/ITES enables development and operation of a sector specific zone with prescribed area and governance.
The Central Government notifies a sector specific Special Economic Zone for information technology and IT enabled services including electronic hardware at specified survey parcels in Villages B.M. Kaval and Rachanamadu, Bangalore, totaling 12.4851 hectares, under approval granted pursuant to Section 3 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005. The notification constitutes an Approval Committee with specified ex officio members and a developer representative as special invitee, and declares the zone deemed to be an inland container depot for customs purposes from 5 March 2012.

Publication of daily import and export lists now requires expanded location categories and specified itemised trade particulars.
Amendment broadens the locations for publication from a "port functioning" to "functioning port, airport, inland container depot or land customs stations" and prescribes the specific particulars to be published daily: for imports-port or country of origin, description of goods, customs tariff heading, quantity, unit quantity code, and value of goods (in rupees); for exports-port of destination, description of goods, customs tariff heading, quantity, unit quantity code, and value of goods (in rupees).

Continuation of anti-dumping duty extended for polyester fully drawn yarn imports from specified countries under government notification.
The Central Government, exercising powers under sub sections (1) and (5) of Section 9A and rule 23, amends the earlier notification to extend continuation of anti dumping duty on imports of Fully Drawn/Fully Oriented/Spin Draw/Flat Polyester Yarn from Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei, and adds that the notification shall remain in force up to and inclusive of 20th August, 2012 unless revoked earlier.

Export proceeds in Indian rupees eligible for export benefits, treated at par with freely convertible currency for Iran exports.
Export proceeds realized in Indian rupees from exports to Iran are permitted to avail export benefits and incentives under the Foreign Trade Policy, 2009-14 on par with proceeds realized in freely convertible currency through insertion of Para 2.40A to Para 2.40.