RODTEP implementation expands export support to eligible AA holder and EOU manufactured products, effective after customs systems enablement.
RoDTEP support is extended to products manufactured by AA holders (excluding Deemed Exports) and Export Oriented Units for 166 specified tariff lines listed in the Annexure. The Central Government notifies that entitlement to this support will be available once requisite technical enablement at the Customs Automated System is completed, thereby operationalising RoDTEP coverage for the designated tariff items under the Foreign Trade Policy.

Export condition for Chitosan products: shipments to the European Union require consignment-wise clearance and joint health certificate.
Export of Chitin and Chitosan products under ITC HS classification 39139090 is 'Free' but exports to the European Union require a consignment-wise Shipment Clearance Certificate specifying exporter, plant, IEC, product, quantity, invoice and port details, and a post-shipment consignment-wise Health Certificate to the buyer detailing HS code, packaging, origin, destination, vessel and departure date, and health requirements, issued jointly by the export promotion body and the competent animal health/quarantine authority.

Export policy change: human biological samples free for export subject to regulatory NOC from relevant authorities.
Amendment designates exports of items containing human biological materials as free for export subject to a regulatory No Objection Certificate. Items governed by the Drugs and Cosmetics regulatory framework require a NOC from the drug regulator; items not so governed require a NOC from the national medical research or health research authority. The change conditions export eligibility on prior regulatory clearance and expressly includes human blood, antisera, immunological products and related items under the chapter.

Exemption from mandatory Quality Control Orders permits import of inputs for export production under conditions preventing DTA clearance.
Imports of inputs subject to mandatory Quality Control Orders may be exempted for Advance Authorisation holders, EOUs and SEZ units subject to conditions: specific endorsement on authorisation or undertaking at import; use solely in manufacture of export products; no DTA clearance permitted; unutilised imports must be destroyed under authority or re exported and attract effective MFN duty with interest plus a composition fee; exemption limited to physical exports and governed by para 2.03(c) and Appendix 2Y of FTP 2023.

RoDTEP support extended to exports under Advance Authorisation and Export Oriented Units, with valuation cap rules.
Exports of goods notified in Appendix 4R, exports under Advance Authorisation (excluding Deemed Exports) and goods manufactured by or exported by EOUs as notified in Appendix 4RE are made eligible for RoDTEP duty credit at the rates and caps in the respective Appendix; the duty credit value for calculation shall be the declared export FOB value or up to 1.5 times the market price, whichever is less. Cross references are amended to cite Appendix 4R or 4RE as applicable, and specified TABLE entries are omitted.

Countervailing duty on pneumatic radial tyres extended, maintaining the levy while review and statutory procedures continue.
The Central Government amends the principal notification to extend the operation of the countervailing duty on specified pneumatic radial tyres originating in or exported from China PR, inserting a paragraph that the countervailing duty shall remain in force up to and inclusive of 23rd July, 2024, unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier, pursuant to powers under the Customs Tariff Act and the procedural rules governing countervailing duty review proceedings.

Index Provider registration and governance framework mandates methodology transparency, conflict of interest controls and periodic independent audits.
These Regulations require registration of Index Providers that administer Significant Indices of securities listed in India, impose eligibility conditions (corporate form, net worth, infrastructure, fit-and-proper status) and mandate submission of independent assessments to IOSCO Principles. Registered Index Providers must implement governance (a separate oversight committee), conflict-of-interest policies, documented Methodology and data controls, maintain audit trails and records, publish disclosures and auditor reports, appoint a compliance officer, and submit periodic reports to the Board; the Board retains supervisory, audit and enforcement powers.

SM REIT regulatory framework establishes tailored registration, disclosure, leverage and governance rules protecting unitholders.
Creates a dedicated regulatory regime for Small and Medium Real Estate Investment Trusts (SM REITs) with definitions, registration in prescribed forms by an investment manager, eligibility criteria including net worth and experience, and mutatis mutandis application of REIT rules. Establishes scheme-level structures via wholly owned SPVs, mandatory draft scheme offer document filings through merchant bankers, asset and investor thresholds for offers, restrictions on investments to completed revenue-generating properties, leverage limits with credit rating and unitholder approval triggers, valuation and disclosure obligations, and detailed unitholder rights, lock-in and post-issue responsibilities.

RoDTEP extended to Advance Authorisation holders, EOUs and SEZ units with Appendix 4RE and notified rates.
RoDTEP is extended to products manufactured by Advance Authorisation holders (except Deemed Exports), Export Oriented Units and SEZ units, with eligible items, rates and per unit caps for these categories listed in a new Appendix 4RE on the DGFT portal. Implementation for AA holders and EOUs runs from 11.03.2024 to 30.09.2024; implementation for SEZ units commences upon ICEGATE IT integration (expected 01.04.2024) and, once operative, continues until 30.09.2024. Revised RoDTEP rates for 25 HS codes in Appendix 4R are also notified, and the scheme validity is extended to 30.09.2024.

Customs appointment: Bhopal airport designated for unloading and loading of baggage under notification amendment.
Amendment inserts Bhopal airport in the Table to Notification No. 61/94 Customs (N.T.) for the State of Madhya Pradesh, designating the airport specifically for unloading and loading of baggage under the powers conferred by the Customs Act.

Rescission of prior tax notification alters applicability of the earlier directive, preserving actions taken before rescission.
Rescinds Government of Jammu and Kashmir Finance Department notification S.O. No. 546/2023-Tax dated 19th October 2023 under the Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, on Council recommendation, except as respects things done or omitted before such rescission; the rescission is deemed to come into force from 1st day of January, 2024.

Combination exemption for small acquisitions, control changes and mergers: limited-threshold transactions temporarily exempted from notification.
Central Government exempts acquisitions, control acquisitions over similar businesses, and mergers or amalgamations from Section 5 where asset value or turnover of the combination does not exceed specified India thresholds; the exemption lasts two years. For partial transfers, assets and turnover attributable to the transferred portion are used; asset value is the prior financial year's book value reduced by depreciation and includes specified intangibles, and turnover must be certified by the statutory auditor from the last audited accounts.

Competition thresholds increased for asset and turnover values, extending merger control applicability effective from notification.
Central Government, under sub section (3) of Section 20 of the Competition Act, 2002, has enhanced the value of assets and value of turnover for purposes of section 5 by one hundred and fifty percent, based on the wholesale price index and exchange rate of the rupee, effective from the date of publication of the notification in the Official Gazette.

Packing machine registration required: unique machine IDs, chartered engineer certification and monthly production statements due each month.
Requires registered manufacturers of specified pan masala and tobacco products to register packing machines in FORM GST SRM I within set timelines, report new installations, amendments and disposals promptly, and obtain a unique registration number for each machine. Mandates monthly production and input statements in FORM GST SRM II by the tenth of the following month and upload of Chartered Engineer certificates in FORM GST SRM III for declared or amended machines. Effective 1 April 2024 and covers scheduled tariff items listed in the Schedule.

GST rate amendment: tariff classifications substituted for specified entries, altering reduced-rate schedule applicability under GST framework.
The Government amends Notification No. 1/2017-Tax (Rate) by substituting, in Schedule I (reduced-rate 2.5%), the entries at S. No. 165 and S. No. 165A with the tariff headings "2711 12 00, 2711 13 00, 2711 19 10"; the amendment is declared to operate from the fourth day of January, 2024.

Information sharing consent: Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit notified for GST common portal integration and data exchange.
Notification under the Rajasthan GST Act notifies the Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit as the system with which information may be shared by the GST common portal based on consent under section 158A(2). The platform is described as an enterprise grade open architecture IT framework enabling access to information from multiple data sources, convergence of financial and data service providers, and interoperable data exchange through standard, protocol driven open APIs.

Online money gaming classification creates GST liability for platform operators and deems cross-border supplies to domestic recipients taxable.
The Act inserts definitions for online gaming, online money gaming and virtual digital asset, expands actionable claims to include betting, casinos, gambling, horse racing, lottery and online money gaming, and provides that any person who organises or operates a platform for supply of such specified actionable claims shall be deemed the supplier for GST purposes, with all Act provisions applying as if that person is liable to pay tax. The Act also treats cross-border supplies of online money gaming to persons in the country as taxable and amends Schedule III accordingly.

Exemption from Quality Control Orders allows conditional import of inputs for manufacture of physical exports under endorsed authorisations.
Amendments permit import of inputs subject to mandatory Quality Control Orders by Advance Authorisation holders without pre-import QCO compliance only when specifically endorsed on the AA and used in manufacture of export goods for physical export. Unutilised imports cannot be cleared to DTA and must be destroyed or re-exported; AA holders must pay exempted duties with interest and a composition fee to DGFT before EODC. Exemptions exclude DFIA, apply similarly to EOUs upon undertaking, and are subject to para 2.03(c) and Appendix 2Y listings.

Import policy amendment revises permissible petroleum coke imports, imposing feedstock only, actual user, non export, and compliance conditions.
The import policy substitute for Condition 06(b) sets revised permissible import quantities for RPC for CPC manufacturing and CPC for the aluminium industry, conditional on: use only as feedstock, prohibition on use as fuel, actual user restrictions preventing transfers or exports, reliance on recorded processing capacity for pro rata allocations, and mandatory compliance with the air quality order.

Consent-based data sharing: Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit notified for authorized information exchange under GST law.
Notification designates the Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit as the system with which the common portal may share information on the basis of consent under the Mizoram GST framework. The platform is defined as an enterprise-grade open-architecture IT platform designed for large credit ecosystems, enabling convergence of financial service providers and data service providers on a standard, protocol-driven architecture using an open and shared API framework, thereby specifying the technical mechanism for authorized consent-based data exchange.