Recognition is mandatory for any person seeking to conduct, organise, or assist in organising a stock exchange, clearing corporation, or depository in an IFSC. Such activities may be undertaken only after obtaining recognition from the Authority in accordance with the applicable regulations.

Definitions for recognised market infrastructure institutions in an International Financial Services Centre govern associates, foreign-jurisdiction eligibility, governance roles, clearing arrangements and market institutions. Key management personnel include senior directors, heads of departments or core functions, reporting superiors and other governing-board-identified decision-makers. Netting determines net settlement obligations through set-off of claims, while novation makes recognised clearing corporations legal counterparties to trades. Undefined expressions adopt meanings under specified securities, financial-services, depository and company-law enactments.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (Market Infrastructure Institutions) Regulations, 2021 are made under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and the Depositories Act. They come into force on the thirtieth day after publication in the Official Gazette.

Minimum owned fund requirements distinguish entities conducting only non-core activities, core activities, Global or Regional Corporate Treasury Centre activities, and special purpose vehicle leasing or financing. Non-core-only entities and Treasury Centres must maintain the higher of the applicable USD 0.2 million threshold or activity-specific amount, while core-activity entities must meet the higher applicable core-capital, non-core registration, or Authority-specified amount. Specified exemptions require a Board-approved prudential policy and Fit and Proper compliance. Special purpose vehicles must hold minimum owned fund or paid-up share capital equivalent to the Companies Act amount or an Authority-specified amount.

Failure by a Finance Company or Finance Unit to fulfil conditions attached to registration permits the Authority to take appropriate action, including suspension, withdrawal, or cancellation of registration. Before taking such action, the entity must be given an opportunity to make submissions.

Regulation 10 authorises the Authority to issue circulars or guidelines prescribing norms, procedures, processes, modes and permissible relaxations for implementing the Finance Company Regulations, addressing incidental matters, and facilitating or regulating permitted financial services. Applicant entities, Finance Companies and Finance Units must pay fees and charges as specified by the Authority.

Every Finance Company and Finance Unit must furnish operational information to the Authority in the manner, at intervals, and in the form specified by the Authority. Financial reporting submitted to the Authority must be in US Dollar unless otherwise specified by the Authority.

Every Finance Company and Finance Unit must comply with Authority-specified corporate governance and disclosure guidelines. Mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, or management changes affecting control of a Finance Company require prior approval where they alter control of share capital or business decisions under an agreement. Parent-level changes concerning a Finance Unit require registration compliance and intimation to the Authority.

Every Finance Company and Finance Unit must comply with Know Your Customer norms, measures to combat financing of terrorism, anti-money laundering obligations, and reporting requirements applicable to a Banking Unit in IFSCs.

Currency of operations for a Finance Company or Finance Unit must be conducted in freely convertible foreign currency with persons permitted by the Authority. Permitted INR-denominated transactions must be settled in freely convertible foreign currency. An INR account may be maintained from such foreign currency for administrative, statutory and other authorised purposes. Balance sheets must be maintained exclusively in United States Dollars, and a Finance Unit must keep its transaction accounts separate from those of its parent.

Finance Companies and Finance Units may undertake authorised core activities including lending, credit enhancement, securitisation, leasing, investment, derivatives and treasury-centre functions. Non-core activities, subject to applicable registration, include merchant banking, advisory, portfolio management, operating leasing, financial-product distribution, trading or clearing membership, ancillary support, facilitation services, and permitted special purpose vehicle leasing or financing. Non-core operations require separate departments, conflict-of-interest firewalls, and Board-approved grievance and compensation policies. Resident dealings remain subject to foreign-exchange law; derivatives by non-core operators are limited to hedging, and speculative transactions or funding are prohibited.

For liquor businesses whose books of account are unavailable, profit estimation may be based on reported sales where those sales represent actual turnover and no independent evidence establishes suppressed sales. Estimating turnover by applying a gross-profit margin to the cost of goods sold is not appropriate in those circumstances. Comparable liquor-trade assessments support estimating profit at 5% of goods put to sale, applied to reported sales rather than an artificially enhanced turnover.

Finance Companies and Finance Units must comply with prudential requirements specified by the Authority, including a minimum capital ratio of regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets. They must maintain a liquidity coverage ratio on a stand-alone basis, subject to approved parent-entity maintenance for a Finance Unit. Aggregate exposure to a single counterparty or connected counterparties is limited to twenty-five per cent of the available eligible capital base without approval. Operational guidelines govern implementation.

Natixis has placed its Portugal and India Expertise Centers under common leadership to strengthen coordination, collaboration, knowledge sharing and consistent working methods across locations. Teams are to work through shared platforms and standards, supporting business continuity across geographies and time zones. The model also promotes talent mobility and international career development while supporting global operational needs and recognising each market's circumstances.

Registration is mandatory before an entity may commence business as a Finance Company or Finance Unit in an IFSC for permissible activities. Applicants must apply in the specified form and maintain the higher applicable minimum capital, owned funds, or net worth for their activity categories. Finance Units must maintain minimum owned funds on an unimpaired basis. The applicant entity or its promoters must be from a FATF-compliant jurisdiction and meet international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Finance Companies and Finance Units may undertake permissible activities but cannot accept public deposits from residents or non-residents and cannot be registered as Banking Units. A Finance Company is separately incorporated, while a Finance Unit is a permitted branch. Public deposits include amounts raised in any form repayable on demand or as term deposits, together with additional amounts specified by the Authority. Special Purpose Vehicles are Finance Companies incorporated or administered by Trust and Company Service Providers for permissible activities in the specified manner.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (Finance Company) Regulations, 2021 establish the regulatory framework for finance companies operating in International Financial Services Centres. The regulations are made through the Authority's rule-making powers under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 and take effect from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Roasted areca nuts, whether whole, split or cut, fall under tariff item 2008 19 20 in Chapter 20 as other roasted nuts and seeds. High-temperature roasting, cooling and repeated roasting cycles are materially different from the drying, dehydration or moderate heat treatment permitted for Chapter 8 products. Heading 2008 and its HSN Explanatory Notes specifically include dry-roasted, oil-roasted and fat-roasted areca or betel nuts. The specific tariff entry for roasted nuts therefore prevails over the general entry applicable to dried nuts.

Recognition of IFSC stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories depends on incorporation, ownership, fit-and-proper status, net worth, governance and operational capability. Stock exchanges require orderly trading, surveillance, investor grievance and continuity systems; clearing corporations require netting, novation, risk controls and a Settlement Guarantee Fund; and depositories require secure dematerialisation, daily reconciliation, data protection and investor safeguards. Recognised institutions must ensure fair access, maintain electronic records, appoint a compliance officer, submit returns, and remain subject to inspection, audit, directions and prescribed conditions.

Goa grants full State tax exemption for specified intra-State supplies of goods classified under listed tariff items, headings and Chapters. Coverage includes primary agricultural produce, specified food products, seeds, feed, medicines, contraceptives, educational goods, cultural articles, public-interest goods and identified indigenous handmade musical instruments. Many entries apply only to goods other than pre-packaged and labelled goods. Lottery supplies, grant-funded supplies by Government entities, hearing-aid parts and public auctions of specified gift items are subject to stated conditions. Customs Tariff classification rules apply, and seed exemptions require seed-quality or sowing use.