External Commercial Borrowings (ECB)

 

Guidelines on ECBs

ECB refer to commercial loans [in the form of bank loans, buyers credit, suppliers credit, securitised instruments (e.g. floating rate notes and fixed rate bonds)] availed from non-resident lenders with a minimum average maturity of 3 years. ECB can be accessed under two routes, viz., (i) Automatic Route outlined in paragraph 1(A) and (ii) Approval Route indicated in paragraph 1(B).

ECBs can be accessed under two routes, viz.,

Automatic Route

The following types of proposals for ECBs are covered under the Automatic Route.

Eligible borrowers

  • Corporates, including those in the hotel, hospital, software sectors (registered under the Companies Act, 1956) and Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs) except financial intermediaries, such as banks, financial institutions (FIs), Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) are eligible to raise ECB. Individuals, Trusts and Non-Profit making organizations are not eligible to raise ECB.
  • Units in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are allowed to raise ECB for their own requirement.
  • Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) engaged in micro finance activities are eligible to avail of ECB. Such NGOs (i) should have a satisfactory borrowing relationship for at least 3 years with a scheduled commercial bank authorized to deal in foreign exchange in India and (ii) would require a certificate of due diligence on `fit and properstatus of the Board / Committee of management of the borrowing entity from the designated AD bank.
  • Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) engaged in micro finance activities are eligible to avail of ECBs. MFIs registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, MFIs registered under Indian Trust Act, 1882, MFIs registered either under the conventional state-level cooperative acts, the national level multi-state cooperative legislation or under the new state-level mutually aided cooperative acts (MACS Act) and not being a co-operative bank, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) categorized as Non Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) and complying with the norms prescribed and are involved in micro finance activities.

Recognised Lenders

  • Borrowers can raise ECB from internationally recognized sources such as
  • international banks
  • international capital markets
  • multilateral financial institutions (such as IFC, ADB, CDC, etc.) / regional financial institutions and Government owned development financial institutions, (iv) export credit agencies
  • suppliers of equipments
  • foreign collaborators
  • foreign equity holders (other than erstwhile Overseas Corporate Bodies (OCBs).

Amount and Maturity

  • The maximum amount of ECB which can be raised by a corporate other than those in the hotel, hospital and software sectors is USD 750 million or its equivalent during a financial year.
  • Corporates in the services sector viz. hotels, hospitals and software sector are allowed to avail of ECB up to USD 200 million or its equivalent in a financial year for meeting foreign currency and/ or Rupee capital expenditure for permissible end-uses. The proceeds of the ECBs should not be used for acquisition of land..
  • ECB up to USD 20 million or its equivalent in a financial year with minimum average maturity of three years.
  • ECB above USD 20 million or equivalent and up to USD 750 million or its equivalent with a minimum average maturity of five years.
  • NGOs engaged in micro finance activities and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) can raise ECB up to USD 10 million or its equivalent during a financial year. Designated AD bank has to ensure that at the time of drawdown the forex exposure of the borrower is fully hedged.

All-in-cost ceilings

All-in-cost includes rate of interest, other fees and expenses in foreign currency except commitment fee, pre-payment fee, and fees payable in Indian Rupees. The payment of withholding tax in Indian Rupees is excluded for calculating the all-in-cost.

The all-in-cost ceilings for ECB are reviewed from time to time. The following ceilings are valid until reviewed

Average Maturity Period All-in-cost Ceilings over 6 month LIBOR*
Three years and up to five years 350 basis points
More than five years 500 basis points

*for the respective currency of borrowing or applicable benchmark In the case of fixed rate loans, the swap cost plus margin should be the equivalent of the floating rate plus the applicable margin.

End-use

  • ECB can be raised for investment [such as import of capital goods (as classified by DGFT in the Foreign Trade Policy), new projects, modernization/expansion of existing production units] in real sector – industrial sector including small and medium enterprises (SME), infrastructure sector and specified service sectors namely hotel, hospital, software in India.
  • Overseas direct investment in Joint Ventures (JV)/ Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) subject to the existing guidelines on Indian Direct Investment in JV/ WOS abroad.
  • Utilization of ECB proceeds is permitted for first stage acquisition of shares in the disinvestment process and also in the mandatory second stage offer to the public under the Governments disinvestment programme of PSU shares.
  • For lending to self-help groups or for micro-credit or for bonafide micro finance activity including capacity building by NGOs engaged in micro finance activities.
  • Payment for Spectrum Allocation.
  • Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs) i.e. Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) categorized as IFCs by the Reserve Bank, are permitted to avail of ECBs, including the outstanding ECBs, up to 50 per cent of their owned funds, for on-lending to the infrastructure sector as defined under the ECB policy, subject to their complying with the following conditions: i) compliance with the norms prescribed in the DNBS Circular DNBS.PD.CCNo.168 / 03.02.089 / 2009-10 dated February 12, 2010 ii) hedging of the currency risk in full. Designated Authorised Dealer should ensure compliance with the extant norms while certifying the ECB application.
  • Interest During Construction (IDC) for Indian companies which are in the infrastructure sector, where infrastructure is defined as per the extant ECB guidelines, subject to IDC being capitalized and forming part of the project cost.
  • Maintenance and operations of toll systems for roads and highways for capital expenditure provided they form part of the original project.

End-uses not permitted

  • For on-lending or investment in capital market or acquiring a company (or a part thereof) in India by a corporate [investment in Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), Money Market Mutual Funds (MMMFs), etc., are also considered as investment in capital markets).
  • for real estate sector
  • for working capital, general corporate purpose and repayment of existing Rupee loans.

Guarantees

  • Issuance of guarantee, standby letter of credit, letter of undertaking or letter of comfort by banks, Financial Institutions and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) from India relating to ECB is not permitted.

Security

  • The choice of security to be provided to the lender/supplier is left to the borrower. However, creation of charge over immoveable assets and financial securities, such as shares, in favour of the overseas lender is subject to Regulation 8 of Notification No. FEMA 21/RB-2000 dated May 3, 2000 and Regulation 3 of Notification No. FEMA 20/RB-2000 dated May 3, 2000, respectively, as amended from time to time. AD Category – I banks have been delegated powers to convey no objection under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 for creation of charge on immovable assets, financial securities and issue of corporate or personal guarantees in favour of overseas lender / security trustee, to secure the ECB to be raised by the borrower.

Procedure

  • Borrowers may enter into loan agreement complying with the ECB guidelines with recognised lender for raising ECB under Automatic Route without the prior approval of the Reserve Bank. The borrower must obtain a Loan Registration Number (LRN) from the Reserve Bank of India before drawing down the ECB. The procedure for obtaining LRN is detailed in para II (i) (b).

Approval Route

Eligible borrowers

The following types of proposals for ECB are covered under the Approval Route

  • On lending by the EXIM Bank for specific purposes will be considered on a case by case basis.
  • Banks and financial institutions which had participated in the textile or steel sector restructuring package as approved by the Government are also permitted to the extent of their investment in the package and assessment by the Reserve Bank based on prudential norms. Any ECB availed for this purpose so far will be deducted from their entitlement.
  • ECB with minimum average maturity of 5 years by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) from multilateral financial institutions, reputable regional financial institutions, official export credit agencies and international banks to finance import of infrastructure equipment for leasing to infrastructure projects.
  • Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs) i.e. Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), categorized as IFCs, by the Reserve Bank, are permitted to avail of ECBs, including the outstanding ECBs, beyond 50 per cent of their owned funds, for on-lending to the infrastructure sector as defined under the ECB policy, subject to their complying with the following conditions:compliance with the norms prescribed in the DNBS Circular DNBS.PD.CCNo.168 / 03.02.089 /2009-10 dated February 12, 2010 ii) hedging of the currency risk in full. Designated Authorised Dealer should ensure compliance with the extant norms while certifying the ECB application.
  • Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) by Housing Finance Companies satisfying the following minimum criteria: (i) the minimum net worth of the financial intermediary during the previous three years shall not be less than Rs. 500 crore, (ii) a listing on the BSE or NSE, (iii) minimum size of FCCB is USD 200 million and (iv) the applicant should submit the purpose / plan of utilization of funds.
  • Special Purpose Vehicles, or any other entity notified by the Reserve Bank, set up to finance infrastructure companies / projects exclusively, will be treated as Financial Institutions and ECB by such entities will be considered under the Approval Route.
  • Multi-State Co-operative Societies engaged in manufacturing activity and satisfying the following criteria i) the Co-operative Society is financially solvent and ii) the Co-operative Society submits its up-to-date audited balance sheet.
  • SEZ developers can avail of ECBs for providing infrastructure facilities within SEZ, as defined in the extant ECB policy like (i) power, (ii) telecommunication, (iii) railways, (iv) roads including bridges, (v) sea port and airport, (vi) industrial parks, (vii) urban infrastructure (water supply, sanitation and sewage projects), (viii) mining, exploration and refining and (ix) cold storage or cold room facility, including for farm level pre-cooling, for preservation or storage of agricultural and allied produce, marine products and meat.
  • Corporates in the services sector viz. hotels, hospitals and software sector can avail of ECB beyond USD 200 million per financial year.
  • Corporates which have violated the extant ECB policy and are under investigation by the Reserve Bank and / or Directorate of Enforcement are allowed to avail of ECB only under the approval route.
  • Cases falling outside the purview of the automatic route limits and maturity period indicated at paragraph A (iii).
  • Eligible borrowers under the automatic route other than corporates in the services sector viz. hotel, hospital and software can avail of ECB beyond USD 750 million or equivalent per financial year

Recognised Lenders:

  • Borrowers can raise ECB from internationally recognised sources such as (i) international banks, (ii) international capital markets, (iii) multilateral financial institutions (such as IFC, ADB, CDC, etc.)/ regional financial institutions and Government owned development financial institutions, (iv) export credit agencies, (v) suppliers’ of equipment, (vi) foreign collaborators and (vii) foreign equity holders (other than erstwhile OCBs).
  • From ‘foreign equity holder’ where the minimum paid-up equity held directly by the foreign equity lender is 25 per cent but ECBs: equity ratio exceeds 4:1 (i.e. the proposed ECB exceeds four times the direct foreign equity holding).

Amount and Maturity

  • Eligible borrowers under the automatic route other than corporates in the services sector viz. hotel, hospital and software can avail of ECB beyond USD 750 million or equivalent per financial year. Corporates in the services sector viz. hotels, hospitals and software sector are allowed to avail of ECB beyond USD 200 million or its equivalent in a financial year for meeting foreign currency and/ or Rupee capital expenditure for permissible end-uses. The proceeds of the ECBs should not be used for acquisition of land.
  • Indian companies which are in the infrastructure sector, as defined under the extant ECB guidelines, can avail of ECBs in Renminbi (RMB), subject to an annual ceiling of USD one billion for the entire sector, pending further review

All-in-cost ceilings

All-in-cost includes rate of interest, other fees and expenses in foreign currency except commitment fee, pre-payment fee, and fees payable in Indian Rupees. The payment of withholding tax in Indian Rupees is excluded for calculating the all-in-cost.

The all-in-cost ceilings for ECB are reviewed from time to time. The following ceilings are valid until reviewed

Average Maturity Period All-in-cost Ceilings over 6 month LIBOR*
Three years and up to five years 350 basis points
More than five years 500 basis points

*for the respective currency of borrowing or applicable benchmark In the case of fixed rate loans, the swap cost plus margin should be the equivalent of the floating rate plus the applicable margin.

End-use

  • ECB can be raised only for investment [such as import of capital goods (as classified by DGFT in the Foreign Trade Policy), implementation of new projects, modernization/expansion of existing production units] in real sector – industrial sector including small and medium enterprises (SME) and infrastructure sector – in India. Infrastructure sector is defined as (i) power (ii) telecommunication (iii) railways (iv) roads including bridges (v) sea port and airport (vi) industrial parks (vii) urban infrastructure (water supply, sanitation and sewage projects) (viii) mining, exploration and refining and (ix) cold storage or cold room facility, including for farm level pre-cooling, for preservation or storage of agricultural and allied produce, marine products and meat.
  • Overseas direct investment in Joint Ventures (JV)/Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) subject to the existing guidelines on Indian Direct Investment in JV/WOS abroad..
  • The payment by eligible borrowers in the Telecom sector, for spectrum allocation may, initially, be met out of Rupee resources by the successful bidders, to be refinanced with a long-term ECB, under the approval route, subject to the following conditions
    • The ECB should be raised within 12 months from the date of payment of the final installment to the Government;
    • The designated AD – Category I bank should monitor the end-use of funds;
    • Banks in India will not be permitted to provide any form of guarantees; and
    • All other conditions of ECB, such as eligible borrower, recognized lender, all-in-cost, average maturity, etc, should be complied with.
  • The first stage acquisition of shares in the disinvestment process and also in the mandatory second stage offer to the public under the Government’s disinvestment programme of PSU shares.
  • Repayment of Rupee loans availed of from domestic banking system : Indian companies which are in the infrastructure sector( except companies in the power sector), as defined under the extant ECB guidelines , are permitted to utilize 25 per cent of the fresh ECB raised by them towards refinancing of the Rupee loan/s availed by them from the domestic banking system, subject to the following conditions
    • at least 75 per cent of the fresh ECB proposed to be raised should be utilized for capital expenditure towards a new infrastructure project(s)
    • in respect of remaining 25 per cent, the refinance shall only be utilized for repayment of the Rupee loan availed of for capital expenditure of earlier completed infrastructure project(s); and
    • the refinance shall be utilized only for the Rupee loans which are outstanding in the books of the financing bank concerned.
  • Companies in the power sector are permitted to utilize up to 40 per cent of the fresh ECB raised by them towards refinancing of the Rupee loan/s availed by them from the domestic banking system subject to the condition that at least 60 per cent of the fresh ECB proposed to be raised should be utilized for fresh capital expenditure for infrastructure project(s).
  • Interest During Construction (IDC) for Indian companies which are in the infrastructure sector, as defined under the extant ECB guidelines subject to IDC being capitalized and forming part of the project cost.
  • Bridge Finance : Indian companies which are in the infrastructure sector, as defined under the extant ECB policy are permitted to import capital goods by availing of short term credit (including buyers / suppliers credit) in the nature of ‘bridge finance’, under the approval route, subject to the following conditions
    • the bridge finance shall be replaced with a long term ECB
    • the long term ECB shall comply with all the extant ECB norms; and
    • prior approval shall be sought from the Reserve Bank for replacing the bridge finance with a long term ECB.
  • ECB for working capital for civil aviation sector : Airline companies registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and possessing scheduled operator permit license from DGCA for passenger transportation are eligible to avail of ECB for working capital. Such ECBs will be allowed based on the cash flow, foreign exchange earnings and the capability to service the debt and the ECBs can be raised with a minimum average maturity period of three years. The overall ECB ceiling for the entire civil aviation sector would be USD one billion and the maximum permissible ECB that can be availed by an individual airline company will be USD 300 million. This limit can be utilized for working capital as well as refinancing of the outstanding working capital Rupee loan(s) availed of from the domestic banking system. ECB availed for working capital/refinancing of working capital as above will not be allowed to be rolled over. The foreign exchange for repayment of ECB should not be accessed from Indian markets and the liability should be extinguished only out of the foreign exchange earnings of the borrowing company.
  • Repayment of Rupee loans and/or fresh Rupee capital expenditure for companies with forex earnings : Indian companies in the manufacturing and infrastructure sector can avail of ECBs for repayment of Rupee loans availed of for capital expenditure from the domestic banking system which are still outstanding and/or fresh Rupee capital expenditure provided they are consistent foreign exchange earners during the past three financial years and not in the default list/caution list of the Reserve Bank of India. The overall limit for such ECBs is USD 10 billion and the maximum permissible ECB that can be availed of by an individual company will be limited to 50 per cent of the average annual export earnings realized during the past three financial years. The foreign exchange for repayment of ECB should not be accessed from Indian markets and and the liability arising out of ECB should be extinguished only out of the foreign exchange earnings of the borrowing company.

End-uses not permitted

  • For on-lending or investment in capital market or acquiring a company (or a part thereof) in India by a corporate except Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs), banks and financial institutions eligible under paragraph I (B) (i) (a), (b) and (d).
  • For real estate.
  • For working capital and general corporate purpose and repayment of existing Rupee loans except as specifically permitted as per details given hereinabove,

Guarantees:

  • Issuance of guarantee, standby letter of credit, letter of undertaking or letter of comfort by banks, financial institutions and NBFCs relating to ECB is not normally permitted. Applications for providing guarantee/standby letter of credit or letter of comfort by banks, financial institutions relating to ECB in the case of SME will be considered on merit subject to prudential norms.

Security

  • Issuance of guarantee, standby letter of credit, letter of undertaking or letter of comfort by banks, financial institutions and NBFCs relating to ECB is not normally permitted. Applications for providing guarantee/standby letter of credit or letter of comfort by banks, financial institutions relating to ECB in the case of SME will be considered on merit subject to prudential norms.
  • With a view to facilitating capacity expansion and technological upgradation in Indian textile industry, issue of guarantees, standby letters of credit, letters of undertaking and letters of comfort by banks in respect of ECB by textile companies for modernization or expansion of textile units will be considered under the Approval Route subject to prudential norms.

Security

  • The choice of security to be provided to the lender / supplier is left to the borrower. However, creation of charge over immovable assets and financial securities, such as shares, in favour of the overseas lender is subject to Regulation 8 of Notification No. FEMA 21/RB-2000 dated May 3, 2000 and Regulation 3 of Notification No. FEMA 20/RB-2000 dated May 3, 2000 as amended from time to time, respectively. Powers have been delegated to Authorised Dealer Category I banks to issue necessary NOCs under FEMA as detailed in para I (A) (viii) ibid.

Parking of ECB proceeds

Borrowers are permitted to either keep ECB proceeds abroad or to remit these funds to India, pending utilization for permissible end-uses.

ECB proceeds parked overseas can be invested in the following liquid assets (a) deposits or Certificate of Deposit or other products offered by banks rated not less than AA (-) by Standard and Poor/ Fitch IBCA or Aa3 by Moody’s; (b) Treasury bills and other monetary instruments of one year maturity having minimum rating as indicated above and (c) deposits with overseas branches / subsidiaries of Indian banks abroad. The funds should be invested in such a way that the investments can be liquidated as and when funds are required by the borrower in India.

ECB funds may also be repatriated to India for credit to the borrowers’ Rupee accounts with AD Category I banks in India pending utilization for permissible end-uses.

The proceeds of the ECB raised abroad meant for Rupee expenditure in India, such as, local sourcing of capital goods, on-lending to Self-Help Groups or for micro credit, payment for spectrum allocation, etc. should be repatriated immediately for credit to their Rupee accounts with AD Category I banks in India. In other words, ECB proceeds meant only for foreign currency expenditure can be retained abroad pending utilization. The rupee funds, however, will not be permitted to be used for investment in capital markets, real estate or for inter-corporate lending.

Prepayment

  • Prepayment of ECB up to USD 500 million may be allowed by the AD bank without prior approval of the Reserve Bank subject to compliance with the stipulated minimum average maturity period as applicable to the loan.
  • Pre-payment of ECB for amounts exceeding USD 500 million would be considered by the Reserve Bank under the Approval Route.

Refinance of existing ECB:

  • Existing ECB may be refinanced by raising a fresh ECB at a higher all-in-cost subject to the condition that the enhanced all-in-cost does not exceed the all-in-cost ceiling prescribed as per the extant guidelines.
  • An existing ECB can be rescheduled at a higher all-in-cost subject to the condition that the enhanced all-in-cost does not exceed the all-in-cost ceiling prescribed as per the extant guidelines.

Debt Servicing:

The designated AD bank has general permission to make remittances of installments of principal, interest and other charges in conformity with the ECB guidelines issued by Government / Reserve Bank from time to time.

 

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is commonly known as Azad Kashmir is a nominally self-governing polity administered by Pakistan. The territory lies west of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir and was previously part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is a self-governing state under Pakistani control, but under Pakistan’s constitution, the state is informally part of the country. Pakistan is administering the region as a self-governing territory rather than incorporating it in the federation since the UN-mandated ceasefire. Azad Kashmir has its own elected President, Prime Minister, Legislative Assembly, High Court, with Azam Khan as its present chief justice, and official flag.

Flag of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

At the time of the Partition of India in 1947, the British abandoned their suzerainty over the princely states, which were left with the options of joining India or Pakistan or remaining independent. Hari Singh, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, wanted his state to remain independent. Muslims in Western Jammu province (current day Azad Kashmir) and the Frontier Districts Province (current day Gilgit-Baltistan) had wanted to join Pakistan.

In Spring 1947, an uprising against the Maharaja broke out in Poonch, an area bordering the Rawalpindi division of West Punjab. Maharaja’s administration is said to have started levying punitive taxes on the peasantry which provoked a local revolt and the administration resorted to brutal suppression. The area’s population, swelled by recently demobilised soldiers following World War II, rebelled against the Maharaja’s forces and gained control of almost the entire district. Following this victory, the pro-Pakistan chieftains of the western districts of Muzaffarabad, Poonch and Mirpur proclaimed a provisional Azad Jammu and Kashmir government in Rawalpindi on October 3, 1947

Azad Kashmir Day is celebrated in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on October 24, which is the day that the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government was created in 1947.

Muzaffarabad, the capital city of Azad Kashmir

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is shown in red. Rest of Pakistan is shown in white and rest of Jammu and Kashmir is hatched showing area with Pakistan's territorial claim

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is shown in red. Rest of Pakistan is shown in white and rest of Jammu and Kashmir is hatched showing area with Pakistan’s territorial claim

At one time under Pakistani control, Kashmir’s Shaksgam tract, a small region along the northeastern border of Gilgit–Baltistan, was provisionally ceded by Pakistan to the People’s Republic of China in 1963 and now forms part of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

In 1972, the then current border between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Kashmir was designated as the “Line of Control”. This line has remained unchanged since the 1972 Simla Agreement, which bound the two countries “to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations”. Some political experts claim that, in view of that pact, the only solution to the issue is the mutual negotiation between the two countries without involving a third party such as the United Nations.

The 1974 Interim Constitution Act was passed by the 48-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir unicameral assembly.

Difference between Line of Control and International Border

The International Border (IB) is the India–Pakistan Border which serves as a border between the countries of India and Pakistan. This is the international border that is recognized by the world. The term Line of Control (LOC) refers to the military control line between the Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The International Border (IB) is the India–Pakistan Border which serves as a border between the countries of India and Pakistan. This is the international border that is recognized by the world. It is quite long and travels over a variety of terrains, ranging from major urban areas to inhospitable deserts as id divides India and Pakistan.

The International Border is based on the artificial Radcliffe line which was published on 17 August 1947 as a boundary demarcation line between India and Pakistan upon the Partition of India. Since its inception, it has been in constant conflict between India and Pakistan. It is, in fact, said to be one of the most dangerous borders in the world.

During the Partition on India and Pakistan, Maharaja Hari Singh, King of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir agreed to sign the Instrument of Accession as per the suggestion of the then Governor-General, Mountbatten. India then claimed that the whole territory of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had become Indian territory due to the accession. However, Pakistan had believed that the state of Jammu and Kashmir will be part of the territory used to form the new nation of Pakistan as its majority was Muslim.

Since that time, the territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been in constant dispute with each country claiming it as its own. The state had become a war ground. Eventually, a Cease-fire Line was designated, with each country controlling one side. Today, the state is divided into Indian controlled Jammu and Kashmir, known as the State of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan controlled Jammu and Kashmir, known as Gilgit–Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). According to the Simla Agreement, which was signed on 3 July 1972, the Cease-fire Line was officially designated as the “Line of Control” (LOC).

While the official border between is the International Border (IB), the LOC actually is considered to be the de facto border.

EXPORT WITHOUT PAYMENT OF DUTY

Chapter 7
EXPORT WITHOUT PAYMENT OF DUTY
Part-I
General
1. Introduction
1.1 The conditions and procedure relating to export without payment of duty (i.e.
duty under the Central Excise Act, 1944, the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special
Importance) Act, 1957 (58 of 1957), the Additional Duties of Excise (Textiles and Textile
Articles) Act, 1978 (40 of 1978); and special excise duty collected under a Finance Act)
are contained in Notification Nos. 42/2001-Central Excise (N.T.) to 45/2001-Central Excise
(N.T.), all dated 26th June, 2001 issued under rule 19 of the Central Excise (No.2) Rules,
2001 (hereinafter referred to as the said Rules). The new rule 19 corresponds to rule 13 of
the Central Excise Rules, 1944.
1.2 Some important changes have been introduced under the present procedure,
which are mentioned below and explained in detail subsequently: –
1. The concept of furnishing of a ‘Letter of Undertaking’ by a manufacturerexporter
has been introduced. The clearances for export by a manufacturerexporter
will be effected similar to clearances for home consumption after he
furnishes Letter of Undertaking.
2. The merchant-exporters are required to file ‘bond’ in specified format. A
manufacturer-exporter may also file bond and follow the ‘bond-procedure’
specified in the notification.
3. Under bond procedure, the concept of ‘self-debit’ by the exporter has been
introduced. The exporter need not go to the ‘bond-accepting authority for a
‘debit-certificate’ before each removal.
4. The procedure of ‘acceptance of proof of export’ has been simplified. The
concept of ‘ Self-credit” based on the copy of A.R.E.1 duly certified by
Customs authorities at the place of export is being introduced.
5. In each Commissionerate of Central Excise, there will be an officer
designated as ‘Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise (Exports)’
whose functions will be similar to the Maritime Commissioners.
6. Number of copies of ‘application for Removal (A.R.E.1)’ has been reduced
compared to AR-4. This will be further reduced after completion of computer
networking in the Department enabling ‘on-line verification’ of exports.
2. Categories of exports
2.1 There are two categories of export without payment of duty
(i) Export of finished goods without payment of duty under bond or
undertaking.
(ii) Export of manufactured/processed goods after procuring raw material
without payment of duty under bond.
Part-II
Export to all countries except Nepal and Bhutan
1. Introduction
1.1 Procedures and conditions for export to all countries except Nepal and Bhutan
are specified in notification No. 42/2001-CE(N.T.) dated 26.6.2001. The details are
mentioned in this part.
1. Conditions
2.1 An exporter shall furnish bond in Form B-1 and obtain certificate in Form CT-1. A
manufacturer-exporter may furnish annual Letter of Undertaking (no CT-1 is required in
this case). The export shall be subject to the following conditions”
(i) The goods shall be exported within six months from the date on which these
were cleared for export from the factory of the production or the
manufacture or warehouse or other approved premises within such extended
period as the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Maritime
Commissioner may in any particular case allow;
(ii) When the export is from a place other than registered factory or warehouse,
the excisable goods are in original packed condition and identifiable as to
their origin;
(iii) The exports of mineral oil products falling under Chapter 27 of the First
Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986) as stores for
consumption on board of an aircraft on foreign run shall be subject to
conditions and limitations, to be applied mutatis mutandis, as notified in the
Notification No.40/2001-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 26th June, 2001 issued
under rule 18 of the said Rules.
3. Forms to be used
3.1 ARE.1 is the export document for export clearance (Annexure-14), which shall be
prepared in quintuplicate (5 copies). This is similar to the erstwhile AR.4. This document
shall bear running serial number beginning from the first day of the financial year. During
this year, for the sake of continuity, the serial number, as started from 1.4.2001, may
continue. The stationary for AR.4 Form may be used with modified name “ARE.1” during
this financial year. On A.R.E.1, certain declarations are required to be given by the
exporter. These should be signed by the exporter or his authorised agent. The different
copies of ARE.1 forms should be of different colours indicated below:
Original White
Duplicate Buff
Triplicate Pink
Quadruplicate Green
Quintuplicate Blue
3.2 It will be sufficient if the copies of ARE.1 contain a color band on the top or right
hand corner in accordance with above color scheme.
3.2 An invoice shall also be prepared in terms of rule 11 of the said Rules. It should be
prominently mentioned on top “FOR EXPORT WITHOUT PAYMENT OF DUTY”.
3.3 The Letter of Undertaking is to be furnished in the Form UT-1 specified in Annexure-
15 to Notification No. 42/2001-Central Excise (N.T.), supra. Any manufacturer, who is an
assessee for the purposes of the Central Excise (No.2) Rules, 2001, shall furnish a Letter of
Undertaking only to the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise having
jurisdiction over his factory from which he intends to export. The Letter of Undertaking
should not be furnished to the Maritime Commissioner or any other officer authorised by
the Board. A ‘Letter of Undertaking’ shall be valid for twelve calendar months provided
the exporter complies with the conditions of the Letter of Undertaking, especially the
procedure for ‘acceptance of proof of export’ under this instruction. In case of persistent
defaults or non-compliance causing threat to revenue, the manufacturer-exporter may
be asked to furnish bond with security/surety. For the sake of clarification, it is mentioned
that this Letter of Undertaking should not be taken for each consignment of export.
3.4 The obligation of the manufacturer flows from statutory requirement of exporting
the goods within six months or such extended period as the Deputy/Assistant
Commissioner of Central Excise may allow. Failing this, the exporter is required to deposit
the requisite sum (duty and interest) suo moto, considering that the manufacturer has to
do ‘self-assessment’. Any non-payment within 15 days of expiry of the stipulated time
period, shall be treated as arrears of revenue and the Department will proceed to
recover the same as ‘sum due to Government’. Suo moto payment within 15 days of
expiry of the stipulated time period will not be treated as ‘default’.
3.5 On repeated failure of the manufacturer-exporter to comply with the conditions
of the Letter of Undertaking or the procedure for ‘acceptance of proof of export’ under
this instruction, the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise may direct him in
writing that the letter of undertaking is not valid and he should furnish B-1 Bond with
sufficient security/surety.
3.6 The Letter of Undertaking shall not be discharged unless the goods are duly
exported, to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the
Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise within the time allowed for such export or are
otherwise accounted for to the satisfaction of such officer, or until the full duty due upon
any deficiency of goods, not accounted so, and interest, if any, has been paid.
3.7 Though any exporter (Manufacturer-exporter or merchant-exporter) can furnish
bond, the merchant-exporters are necessarily required to furnish bond in the B-1 Form
specified in Annexure-16 of notification no. 42/2001-Central Excise (N.T.), supra with such
security or surety as may be specified by the concerned bond accepting authority. The
bond shall be in a sum equal at least to the duty chargeable on the goods for the due
arrival of export goods at the place of export and their export therefrom under Customs
or as the case may be postal supervision. The officer who will accept the bond, will also
be responsible for discharging that bond upon furnishing proof of export by the exporter.
3.8 The bond shall not be discharged unless the goods are duly exported, to the
satisfaction of the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Maritime
Commissioner or such other officer as may be authorised by the Board on this behalf
within the time allowed for such export or are otherwise accounted for to the satisfaction
of such officer, or until the full duty due upon any deficiency of goods, not accounted
so, and interest, if any, has been paid
3.9 Certificate ‘CT-1”, as specified in Annexure-17 have to be obtained by merchantexporters
for procuring goods from a factory or warehouse. Such certificates need not
be obtained for each consignment but will be given in lot of 25.
4. Bond Accepting Authority
4.1 Bond may be accepted by any of the following officers: –
(i) The Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction
over the factory or warehouse or any other premises approved by the
Commissioner for storing non-duty paid goods;
(ii) Maritime Commissioners at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Paradeep,
Kandla, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam and Cochin.
(iii) The Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise(Export) as officers
authorised by the Board for this purpose.
4.2 Exporters are required to clearly indicate on the ARE.1 the complete postal
address of the authority before whom the bond is executed and to whom the
documents are to be submitted/ transmitted for admission of proof of export.
5. Security or surety with bond
5.1 Wherever bond is taken, sufficient security or surety is also required as the per the
notifications issued under rule 19 of the said Rules. In 1996, Board had taken a decision
that in respect of exporters having good track record may be allowed to furnish bond
with nil security or surety. The Board in Circular No.284/118/96 dated 31.12.1996 issued an
instruction. Now, since the manufacturer-exporters, who are also assessee of the Central
Excise Department, have an option to furnish ‘Letter of Undertaking” (without any
security or surety), the question of furnishing of ‘security or surety’ is mainly relate to
merchant-exporters who are not assessees of the Central Excise Department. In this
scenario, the Board has decided that security (Bank Guarantee or Cash Guarantee or
Cash Security) or surety need not be insisted upon from Super Star Trading Houses, Star
Trading Houses, Trading Houses and Export Houses provided that –
(i) the exporter has not come to adverse notice of the Central Excise or
Customs Department in last three years from the date under
consideration;
(ii) all the formalities required under Central Excise Act and rules made
thereunder are regularly complied with by the exporter, especially
regarding timely submission of proof of export and deposit of duty with
interest in time where proof of export is not received within stipulated time
frame;
(iii) A self-attested copy of the proof of Status (Super Star Trading Houses, Star
Trading Houses, Trading Houses and Export Houses) from concerned
authority (Ministry of Commerce and Industry – Directorate General of
Foreign Trade) is submitted.
5.2 Other exporters shall be required to furnish surety equal to full bond amount or
security equal to twenty five percent. (25%) of the bond amount, along with the bond.
5.3 The bond shall be furnished on non-judicial stamp paper of the value as
applicable in the State in which bond is being furnished.
5.4 Where export is effected by merchant-exporter, the bond has to be necessarily
furnished. It is open for the manufacturer to furnish bond on behalf of the merchantexporter.
It is clarified that in such cases, the manufacturer will not take a stand that
since he is responsible for the duty liability, the export should be allowed on the basis of
the ‘Letter of Undertaking’, which he has already furnished to the Department. In such
circumstances, the application in Form ARE.1 will be in the name of the manufacturer
who executes the Bond. All other procedures for admission of the proof of export would
be the same as in the case of manufacturer-exporters.
5.5 It should be noted that once a manufacturer furnished bond for exports by
merchant exporters, it would be his responsibility to account for the export goods.
5.6 It may be noticed that only General bond (B-1) has been specified. Even where
bond is required for only one consignment, the Form will remain the same. The exporter
may get the bond redeemed immediately after he completes the exports and obtains
the proof of export.
5.7 In case of B-1 general bond a running bond account in proforma of Annexure-18
shall be maintained by the exporter because he is responsible for debit the bond before
preparation of ‘certificate’ for obtaining goods for export. He shall also take self-credit in
the manner specified in this instruction.
5.8 For the sake of clarity it is informed that the concept of ‘Block Transfer’ has lost its
relevance in the context of self-debit and self-credit of bond and the new system of
acceptance of proof of export [to be explained in subsequent paragraphs] by the
exporter.
5.9 It is further mentioned that where the merchant exporter executes bond, it shall
be necessary that both the merchant-exporter and the manufacturer sign the ARE.1.
6. Procedure for clearance from the factory or warehouse
6.1 A Manufacturer-exporter who has furnished a Letter of Undertaking will prepare
the export documents (A.R.E.1 and invoice under rule 11) for clearance from his factory
of production.
6.2 A Merchant-exporter who has furnished a bond shall be provided sufficient
number of certificates (CT-1), duly signed/certified, in multiples of 25 copies, normally
covering a period of one to three months, depending upon the track record of
compliance by the exporter. The ‘bond accepting authority’ shall be responsible for
verifying and accepting the proof of export and in case of any defaults by the exporter,
to recover the sum and enforcing the bond. The certificate should be provided
according to the volume of exports projected by the exporter (which should also reflect
in the amount of bond). The compliance of the exporter in submitting the requisite
documents towards ‘proof of export’ shall be another criterion.
6.2.1 The second part of CT-1 is very important. The exporter shall determine the
description of goods for procurement from a particular factory or warehouse or an
approved place of storage, quantum, value of procurement (provisional figures) and
duty involved therein (provisional figures – but based on correct rate of duty and
contracted transaction value). This ‘duty’ element will be debited provisionally. The
exporter shall ensure that at the time of debit, sufficient credit is available at that point of
time to cover the said debit. The provisional debit shall be converted into final debit
within a period of seven days form the date of removal of goods on A.R.E.1, based on
the ‘duty payable’ in goods cleared for export reflected in the said A.R.E.1 and invoice.
6.2.2 The manufacturer shall record the clearance in his Daily Stock Account
indicating, inter alia, the invoice number/date, A.R.E.1 number/date and duty payable
but foregone under rule 19.
6.3 The exporter has two optional procedures regarding the manner in which he may
clear the export consignments from the factory or warehouse or any other approved
premises, namely: –
1. Examination and sealing of goods at the place of despatch by a Central Excise
Officer
2. Under self-sealing and self-certification
7. Sealing of goods and examination at place of despatch
7.1 The exporter is required to prepare five copies of application in the Form ARE-1.
The Form is specified in Annexure-I to notification No. 42/2001-Central Excise (N.T.) dated
26.6.2001. The goods shall be assessed to duty in the same manner as the goods for
home consumption, though duty is not required to be paid considering clearance is
meant for export without payment of duty. The classification and rate of duty should be
in terms of Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 read with any exemption notification and/or the
said Rules. The value shall be the “transaction value” and should conform to section 4 or
section 4A, as the case may be, of the Central Excise Act, 1944. It is clarified that this
value may be less than, equal to or more than the F.O.B. value indicated by the exporter
on the Shipping Bill.
7.2 The duty payable shall be determined on the ARE.1 and invoice and recorded in
the Daily Stock Account as “duty foregone on account of export under rule 19”.
7.3 The exporter may request the Superintendent or Inspector of Central Excise
having jurisdiction over the factory of production or manufacture, warehouse or
approved premises for examination and sealing at the place of despatch 24 hours in
advance, or such shorter period as may be mutually agreed upon, about the intended
time of removal so that arrangements can be made for necessary examination and
sealing.
7.4 In case of exports under Duty Exemption Entitlement Certificate Scheme (DEEC),
Duty Exemption Pass Book Scheme (DEPB) and claim for Drawback, the Superintendent
of Central Excise shall also examine and seal the consignment and sign the documents in
token of having done so. In exceptional cases, where the exporter has unblemished
track record of compliance (Central Excise) and where there is non-availability of
Superintendent of Central Excise due to leave, vacant post or other reasonable causes,
the jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise may permit
examination and sealing by Inspector. All other types of export may be examined and
sealed by the Inspector of Central Excise.
7.5 The Superintendent or Inspector of Central Excise, as the case may be, will verify
the identity of goods mentioned in the application and also verify whether the duty selfassessed
is appropriate and that the particulars of the duty payable has been has
recorded in the Daily Stock Account. If he finds that the declaration in ARE.1 and the
invoices are correct from the point of view of identity of goods and its assessment to
duty, he shall seal each package or the container ensuring that the goods cannot be
tampered with after the examination. Normally, individual packages should be sealed by
using wire and lead seals and an all-sides-closed container by using numbered One time
Lock/Bottle seals or in such other manner as may be specified by the Commissioner of
Central Excise by a special or general written order. Thereafter, the said officer shall
endorse and sign each copy of the application in token of having such examination
done and put his stamp with his name and designation below his signature;
8. Distribution of ARE.1 in the case of export from the factory or warehouse
Original (First Copy) The said Superintendent or Inspector of Central Excise
shall return to the exporter immediately after
endorsements and signature
Duplicate (Second Copy) The said Superintendent or Inspector of Central Excise
shall return to the exporter immediately after
endorsements and signature.
Triplicate (Third Copy) Sent to the bond sanctioning authority, either by post or
by handing over to the exporter in a tamper proof sealed
cover after posting the particulars in official records.
Quadruplicate (Fourth
Copy)
Retain for official records
Quintuplicate (Fifth Copy) Optional copy – The said Superintendent or Inspector of
Central Excise shall return to the exporter immediately
after endorsements and signature.
9. Distribution of ARE.1 in the case of export from other than factory or warehouse
9.1 Where goods are not exported directly from the factory of manufacture or
warehouse, the distribution of A.R.E.1 will be same as above except that the triplicate
copy of application shall be sent by the Superintendent having jurisdiction over the
factory of manufacture or warehouse who shall, after verification forward the triplicate
copy in the manner specified above.
10. Despatch of goods by self-sealing and self-certification
10.1 Self-sealing and self-certification is a procedure by which the exporter who is a
manufacturer or owner of a warehouse, may remove the goods for export from his
factory or warehouse without examination by a Central Excise Officer. This procedure will
also be permitted in the cases where a merchant-exporter procures the goods directly
from a factory or warehouse. In both cases, the manufacturer of the export goods or
owner of the warehouse shall take the responsibility of sealing and certification. For this
purpose the owner, the working partner, the Managing Director or the Company
Secretary, of the manufacturing unit of the goods or the owner of warehouse or a person
(who should be permanent employee of the said manufacturer or owner of the
warehouse holding reasonably high position) duly authorised by such owner, working
partner or the Board of Directors of such Company, as the case may be, shall certify on
all the copies of the application (A.R.E. 1) that the goods have been sealed in his
presence. The exporter shall distribute of the copies of A.R.E. 1 in the following manner:
Original (First copy) and Duplicate
(Second copy)
Send to the place of export along with
the goods
Triplicate (Third copy) and Quadruplicate
(Fourth copy)
Superintendent or Inspector of Central
Excise having jurisdiction over the factory
or warehouse within twenty four hours of
removal of the goods
Quintuplicate (Fifth copy) Optional copy – Send to the place of
export along with the goods
10.2 The said Superintendent and Inspector of Central Excise shall verify the particulars
of assessment, the correctness of the amount of duty paid or duty payable, its entry in
the Daily Stock Account maintained under rule 10 of the Central Excise (No.2) Rules, 2001
(the manufacturer or warehouse owner will be required to present proof in this regard),
corresponding invoice issued under rule 11. If he is satisfied with the particulars, he will
endorse the relevant A.R.E. 1 and append their signatures at specified places in token of
having done the verification. In case of any discrepancy, he will take up the matter with
the assessee for rectification and also inform the jurisdictional Assistant/Deputy
Commissioner. Once verification is complete and the A.R.E. 1 is in order, he shall
distribute the documents (A.R.E. 1) in the following manner:
Triplicate (Third copy) Send to the bond accepting authority,
either by post or by handing over to the
exporter in a tamper proof sealed cover
after posting the particulars in official
records. Where manufacturer has given
LUT, triplicate shall be retained and will be
forwarded to the Deputy/Assistant
Commissioner of the Division along with
Statement, after matching them with
original copies of A.R.E.1s.
Quadruplicate (Fourth copy) Retain for Range records (The notification
does not specify this distribution of this
copy)
11. Export by parcel post
11.1 In case of export by parcel post after the goods intended for export has been
sealed, the exporter shall affix to the duplicate application sufficient postage stamps to
cover postal charges and shall present the documents, together with the package or
packages to which it refers, to the postmaster at the Office of booking.
12. Examination of goods at the place of export
12.1 The place of export may be a port, airport, Inland Container Depot, Customs
Freight Station or Land Customs Station.
12.2 The exporter shall present together with original, duplicate and quintuplicate
(optional) copies of the application (A.R.E. 1) to the Commissioner of Customs or other
duly appointed officer – normally goods are presented in the designated export shed.
12.3 The goods are examined by the Customs for the purposes of Central Excise to
establish the identity and quantity, i.e. the goods brought in the Customs area for export
on an A.R.E. 1 are the same which were cleared from the factory. The Customs
authorities also examine the goods for Customs purposes such as verifying for certain
export incentives such as drawback, DEEC, DEPB or for determining exportability of the
goods.
12.4 For Central Excise purposes, the Officers of Customs at the place of export shall
examine the consignments with the particulars as cited in the application (A.R.E. 1) and if
he finds that the same are correct and the goods are exportable in accordance with the
laws for the time being in force (for example, they are not prohibited or restricted from
being exported), shall allow export thereof. Thereafter, he will certify on the copies of the
A.R.E. 1 that the goods have been duly exported citing the shipping bill number and
date and other particulars of export and distribute in the following manner:
(i) The officer of customs shall return the original and quintuplicate (optional
copy for exporter) copies of application to the exporter and forward the
duplicate copy of application either by post or by handing over to the
exporter in a tamper proof sealed cover to the officer specified in the
application, from whom exporter wants to claim rebate.
(ii) Quintuplicate A.R.E. 1 is the Export Promotion Copy and the exporter shall
use this copy for the purposes of claiming any other export incentive.
13. Procedure relating proof of export and to re-credit against such proof
13.1 The procedure relating to acceptance of proof of export or the ‘validation’ of
actual export has been simplified. The original and duplicate copies of A.R.E. 1 are
presented to the Customs authorities at the place of export [with option for exporter to
also present quintuplicate copy]. The Customs authority certify the actual export on
these documents and distributes the copies as specified.
13.2 The exporter shall submit a Statement, at least once in a month, in Form specified
in Annexure-19 along with the Original copies of A.R.E. 1 with due certification of export
(Pass for Shipment Order) by Customs authorities at the place of export to the Divisional
office (through Range)or in the office of the bond-accepting authority. Other supporting
documents shall also be furnished, namely, Self-attested photocopy of Bill of Lading and
Self-attested photocopy of Shipping Bill (Export Promotion Copy). The Range office or the
Office of the bond-accepting authority immediately on receipt shall acknowledge the
Statement.
13.3 The exporter is permitted to take credit in his running bond account on the basis
of copy of the Statement referred to above, duly acknowledged the Range office or the
office of the bond-accepting authority
13.4 It shall be the responsibility of the Range Office and Division Office or the other
bond-accepting authority to verify the correctness of Statement and A.R.E.1 furnished by
the exporter within the shortest possible time. The Statement and A.R.E.1 will be tallied by
the Range Officers with the triplicate copies of A.R.E.1 already with them and the A.R.E.1
or its summary received directly from the place of export (hard copies or electronic
summary or e-mail) within 15 days of the receipt. The Divisional Officer shall accept the
proof of export or initiate necessary action in case of any discrepancy.
13.5 In case of other bond-accepting authority, their office will do this work. The bondaccepting
authority shall accept the proof of export or initiate necessary action in case
of any discrepancy. He will also intimate about the acceptance of proof of export or any
other action to the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise from whose
jurisdiction goods were cleared for export.
13.6 In case of non-export within the six month from the date of clearance for export
(or such extended period, if any, as may be permitted by the Deputy/Assistant
Commissioner of Central Excise or the bond-accepting authority) or discrepancy, the
exporter shall himself deposit the excise duties along with interest on his own immediately
on completion of the statutory time period or within ten days of the Memorandum given
to him by the Range/Division office or the Office of the bond-accepting authority.
Otherwise necessary action can be initiated to recover the excise duties along with
interest and fine/penalty. Failing this, the amount shall be recovered from the
manufacturer-exporter along with interest in terms of the Letter of Undertaking furnished
by the manufacturer. In case where the exporter has furnished bond, the said bond shall
be enforced and proceedings to recover duty and interest shall be initiated against the
exporter.
13.7 In case of any loss of document, the Divisional Officer or the bond accepting
authority may get the matter verified from the Customs authorities at the place of export
or may call for collateral evidences such as remittance certificate, Mate’s receipt etc. to
satisfy himself that the goods have actually been exported.
14. Functioning of Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise (Export)
14.1 Under the normal export procedure, the merchant-exporters including those
manufacturer-exporters (Project-exporters who have to export bought out goods) have
to procure the excisable goods for export under bond manufactured in different parts
of the country. For this purpose, they have to have to furnish either several bonds with
the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise of the supplier’s area and submit
proof of exports for discharge of such bonds or furnish a bond with the Maritime
Commissioner who are located only at seven ports, namely, Considering that there have
been tremendous export potentials from the inland areas located at considerable
distance from a sea port and that there have been considerable growth of exports
from Inland Container Depots and the Air Cargo Units located in such inland areas, the
Board had appointed an officer in each Commissionerate except those
Commissionerates in which the Maritime Commissioner is posted as Deputy/Assistant
Commissioner of Central Excise (Export) for the purpose of facilitating export under bond
by Circular No. 500/66/99-CX dated 15th December, 1999, under authority of rule 19 of
the said Rules read with notification No.42/2001-Central Excise (N.T) dated 26.6.2001.
14.2 Any merchant exporter/manufacturer-cum-merchant exporter can file the
required bond with the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise(Export)
under whose jurisdiction his Head Office/factory is located (within the jurisdiction of
the Commissionerates). In such case the exporter can procure the goods from a
factory located anywhere in India.
14.3 For clarification it is mentioned that the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central
Excise (Export) will not deal with the exports where the manufacturer-exporters are
permitted to export by furnishing an Annual Undertaking (UT-1) in lieu of bond.
Part-III
SIMPLIFIED EXPORT PROCEDURE FOR EXEMPTED UNITS
1. Introduction
1.1 Units, which are fully exempted from payment of duty by a notification granting
exemption based on value of clearances for home consumption, may be exempted
from filing ARE.1 and Bond till they remain within the full exemption limit. The following
simplified export procedure shall be followed in this regard by such units: –
2. Filing of declaration
2.1 Manufacturers exempted for payment of duty will not be required to take Central
Excise Registration. They shall however, file a declaration in terms of Para 2 of Notification
No. 36/2001-CE (NT) dated 26.6.2001, and obtain declarant code number
[notwithstanding they are exempted form declaration, but for this procedure].
3. Documentation
3.1 The clearance document will be, as follows:
i) Such manufacturers are permitted to use invoices or other similar
documents bearing printed Serial Numbers beginning from 1st day of a
financial year for the purpose of clearances for home consumption as
well as for exports. (The printing of Serial Numbers can be done by use of
franking machine). The invoices meant for use during a month shall be
pre-authenticated by the owner or partner or Director/Managing Director
of a Company or other authorised person.
ii) The declarant’s Code Number should be mentioned on all clearance
document.
iii) Such clearance document should contain particulars of the description of
goods, name and address of the buyer, destination, value, [progressive
total of total value of excisable goods cleared for home consumption
since beginning of the financial year], vehicle number, date and time of
the removal of the goods.
iv) The clearance document will be signed by the manufacturer or his
authorised agent at the time of clearance.
v) In case of export through merchant exporters, the manufacturer will also
mention on the top “EXPORT THROUGH MERCHANT EXPORTERS” and will
mention the Export-Import Code No. of such merchant exporters.
vi) In case of direct export by the manufacturer-exporters, he will mention on
the top “FOR EXPORT” and his own Export – Import Code No., if any.
3.2 Records
3.2.1 Such units shall maintain a simple record of quantity and value of production and
clearance. Entries in production record should either be allowed to be made at the
close of the day or before the commencement of the production on the following day.
Entries need not be made on days when there is no production or clearance of goods.
3.3 Statement
3.3.1 Such units shall file a prescribed quarterly statement to the Jurisdictional Range
Superintendent containing various particulars. (Annexure-20)
4. Proof of Export
4.1 Following documents shall be accepted as proof of export :
4.1.1 In the case of direct export by the Manufacture- exporter
(i) Duly attested photocopy of shipping bill (Export Promotion Copy) bearing
the particulars and date of clearance document under which the goods
are cleared from the factory of production, having endorsement on its
reverse by the Customs of the particulars of mate’s receipt no. (wherever
applicable), name of the ship/ flight no., of the aircraft, vehicle no. – by
which the goods were exported out, date of export, and EGM Number/
Airway Bill Number (wherever applicable);
(ii) Duly Custom’s attested copy of Bill of lading; and
(iii) Foreign Exchange Remittance Certificates.
4.1.2 In the case of export through Merchant-exporter the document prescribed by
Sales Tax Department will be accepted as the proof of export. Sales made by
manufacturer of the goods’ to the merchant exporter which ultimately are exported are
exempt from Central Sales Tax. The Sales Tax Department issues booklet to the merchant
exporters containing serially numbered H-Forms/ST-XXII form or equivalent Sales Tax form.
After the goods have been exported by the merchant exporters, the latter issues these
forms to the manufacturers of the goods. The merchant exporters in turn have to
account all these serially numbered forms to the sales Tax Department by furnishing a
proof that the goods have been exported out. These proofs are in the from of
presentation of the Shipping Bill duly completed by the customs, bill of landing, foreign
exchange remittance certificates etc. The liability of the manufacturers to the Central
Sales Tax gets discharged only when they submit these forms to the Sales Tax
Department. It is, therefore, seen that indirectly exports get accounted for through the
issue of H-form or ST-XXII Form. Thus, photocopy of H-form or ST-XXII Form or any other
equivalent Sales Tax form duly attested and stamped by the manufacturer or his
authorised agent will be accepted for purpose of proof of export.
4.2 Submission of proof of export and processing thereof
4.2.1 The proof of export should be submitted to the Range Officer within a period of 6
months from the date of clearance of goods from the factory of production.
4.2.2 If Range Superintendent finds that the clearances for home consumption, and
the clearances for export where proof of exports have not been furnished within 6
months, when taken together, are likely to exceed the exemption limit (which is presently
Rs. 100 lakhs for home consumption), he should issue show cause notices for
safeguarding revenue. These show cause notices, however, should be kept pending for
another three months by which time proof of exports are expected to be received.
4.2.3 The Range Superintendent will maintain manufacturer wise record on the basis of
the quarterly return and the proof of exports submitted by the manufacturer from time to
time in order to ascertain that the clearances for exports and the proofs of exports are
duly accounted for and in case of failure on the part of exporter to submit proof of
export, necessary action can be initiated promptly on the lines already mentioned in the
above para.
4.3 In case clearances of such manufacturers for home consumption plus clearance
for export where proof of export were not furnished within 6 months, exceed the
exemption limit, they should take Central Excise Registration and follow the regular
A.R.E.1 procedure.
4.4 This procedure will also be applicable to exports of ready-made garments.
Part-IV
EXPORT TO NEPAL AND BHUTAN WITHOUT PAYMENT OF DUTY
1. Introduction
1.1 The conditions and procedure for export to Nepal and the Board in Notification
No. 45/2001-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 26.6.2001(hereinafter referred to as the ‘said
notification’) has specified Bhutan without payment of duty (under bond).
2. Places from where goods can be exported
2.1 Under the said notification, export can be made from any of the following
places: –
(i) the factory of production or manufacture
(ii) warehouse, or
(iii) any other premises as may be approved by the Commissioner of Central
Excise.
3. Forms to be used
3.1 The export shall be required to file a general bond in the Form specified in the
said notification (Annexure-16) with such security or surety as may be specified by the
concerned bond accepting authority. The bond shall be in a sum equal at least to the
duty chargeable on the goods for the due arrival of export goods at the place of export
(Land Customs Station) and their export therefrom under Customs supervision. The officer
who will accept the bond, will also be responsible for discharging that bond upon
furnishing proof of export by the exporter.
3.2 The bond shall not be discharged unless the goods are duly exported, to the
satisfaction of the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Maritime
Commissioner or such other officer as may be authorised by the Board on this behalf
within the time allowed for such export or are otherwise accounted for to the satisfaction
of such officer, or until the full duty due upon any deficiency of goods, not accounted
so, and interest, if any, has been paid
3.3 Invoice in the Form specified in the said notification (Annexure-21) shall be used
for export clearances. Six copies of invoice shall be prepared. This document shall bear
running serial number beginning from the first day of the financial year. During this year,
for the sake of continuity, the serial number, as started from 1.4.2001, may continue. The
stationary for invoice under erstwhile notification no. 50/94-Central Excise (N.T.) dated
22.9.1994 may be used for the time being” during this financial year. On the invoice,
certain declarations are required to be given by the exporter. They should be signed by
the exporter or his authorised agent.
3.4 Certificate shall be required in the Form specified in the said notification
(Annexure-22) from the Reserve Bank of India or any other bank authorised to deal in
foreign exchange by the Reserve Bank of India, for the receipt of full payment in freely
convertible currency. Certificate may also be required where remittance is received in
Indian Rupee.
4. Categories of exports and the conditions and safeguards thereto
4.1 Export under bond to Nepal or Bhutan where payment is in freely convertible
currency
4.1.1 Export under bond to Nepal or Bhutan where payment is in freely convertible
currency, shall be subject to following conditions, namely: –
(i) The importer in Nepal or Bhutan, as the case may be, shall open an
irrevocable letter of credit in favour of the exporter in India, before the
export takes place. However, this is not necessary int eh following
cases of export:
(a) All excisable goods other than consumer goods and
(b) Motor vehicle,
if they are exported without payment of duty as –
(i) supplies to projects financed by any United Nations
agency, the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, International Development Association, the
Asian Development Bank or any other multilateral agency
of like nature; and
(ii) to all diplomatic missions in Nepal or Bhutan provided the
Indian Embassy or the Ministry of External Affairs certifies
that the import is for the personnel of the diplomatic
community;
(ii) The exporter shall furnish a bond in Form specified in Annexure-I of the
above-mentioned notification before the Deputy/Assistant
Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction over the factory,
warehouse, or the approved premises or such other officer as
authorised by the Board on this behalf, from where the goods are
removed for export to Nepal, as the case may be, or Bhutan;
(iii) After the exports are effected the exporter shall furnish a certificate of
remittances from the Reserve Bank of India or an authorised bank in
India, showing that full payment for the goods has been duly received
in freely convertible currency, as defined in the said notification. On
receipt of such a certificate and on the satisfaction that the goods
have been exported in terms of the bond, the bond accepting
authority shall discharge the exporter of his liabilities under the bond.
4.2 Export to Nepal in bond against payment in Indian rupee
4.2.1 As an exception to the above category of export, capital goods, as defined in
the said notification may be exported under bond directly from the factory of
manufacture to Nepal against any global tender invited by His Majesty’s Government of
Nepal without payment of duty, for which payment is received in Indian currency. Such
exports shall be subject to the following further conditions, namely: –
(i) the exporter shall furnish a bond in specified Form before the Assistant
Commissioner of Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of Central
Excise or such other officer as authorised by the Board on this behalf;
and
(ii) the exporter shall furnish a certificate of remittances in specified Form
from a bank in India showing that full payment for the goods has been
duly received in Indian currency by the said bank;
4.2.2 On receipt of the certificate of remittances and on the satisfaction that the
goods have been exported in terms of bond, the bond accepting authority shall
discharge the exporter of his liabilities under the bond.
4.3 Export in bond of petroleum oil and lubricant products to Nepal
4.3.1 The export in bond without payment of duty of excise of petroleum oil and
lubricant products to Nepal is permitted through the agency of Nepal Oil Corporation
from calibrated stocks of M/s Indian Oil Corporation registered as a warehouse in
accordance with the provisions rule 20 the said Rules, and situated at places notified for
the purpose or purchased without payment of duty from tanks of other Oil Companies or
Undertakings. For this facility, the Indian Oil Corporation shall be required to furnish a
bond in the specified Form to the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise
having jurisdiction over the installation from which the petroleum oil and lubricant
products are to be exported.
4.4 Export in bond for supplies to Government of India Aided Projects in Nepal and
the Embassy Cooperative Store and Embassy Petrol Pump located in Nepal for the
bonafide use of officers and staff of the Embassy in Nepal
4.4.1 Export in bond for supplies to Government of India Aided Projects in Nepal and
the Embassy Cooperative Store and Embassy Petrol Pump located in Nepal for the
bonafide use of officers and staff of the Embassy in Nepal shall be subject to the
following conditions, namely: –
(i) the exporter shall furnish a bond in specified Form to the
Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise; and
(ii) the First Secretary (Economic), Embassy of India, Nepal, certifies the
signature and stamp or seal of the person authorised to place the
order for supply of excisable goods to the specified Government of
India Aided Projects in Nepal;
4.5 Export without payment of duty to Kurichu Hydro Electric Project and Tala Hydro
Electric Project in Bhutan
4.5.1 Export of all excisable goods without payment of duty to Kurichu Hydro Electric
Project and Tala Hydro Electric Project in Bhutan shall be subject to the following
conditions, namely: –
(i) The exporter shall furnish a bond in Form in specified Form before the
Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction over
the factory or warehouse from which the goods have to be cleared;
(ii) The goods are supplied against one or more specified contract which
have been registered with the Directorate General of Inspection, Customs
and Central Excise in the following manner:
(a) Every Project Authority specified in the notification (notification no.
45/2001-CE(N.T.), supra, desirous of obtaining supplies under
benefits of this notification shall apply in writing to the Director
General, Directorate General of Inspection (Customs and Central
Excise) [hereinafter referred to as DGICCE], 5th Floor, Drum Shape
Building, I.P. Estate, New Delhi for registration of the contract
through Ministry of External Affairs as soon as the contract has
been concluded with the suppliers;
(b) The application shall be accompanied by the original deed of
contract and list of items duly approved by the Ministry of External
Affairs;
(c) The Project Authority shall also furnish such other documents or
other particulars as may be required by the DGICCE in connection
with the project.
(d) DGICCE, on being satisfied, shall register the contract by entering
the particulars in a Register maintained separately for each
project and shall assign a number in token of registration and
communicate the same to the Project Authority and shall also
return to the project authority all original documents which are no
longer required. This number shall be indicated on all the invoices
and other related documents.
(e) A copy of the contract so registered along with the approved list
of items shall be forwarded to the Commissioner of Central Excise
having jurisdiction over the factory/warehouse to which the
contract pertains for extending benefits under this notification and
consequent benefits under the Central Excise CENVAT Credit
Rules, 2001 to the supplier.
4.5.2 Amendment of Contract
(a) If any contract referred to hereinabove is amended, whether
before or after registration, the Project Authority shall make an
application for registration of amendments to the said contract to
the DGICCE.
(b) The application shall be accompanied by the original deed of
contract relating to the amendment and a list of items pertaining
to amendment, if any, duly approved by the Ministry of External
Affairs.
(c) On being satisfied that the application is in order the DGICCE shall
make note of the amendments in the relevant entries.
(d) The DGICCE shall forward copy of the amended contract and the
amended list of items, if any, to the concerned Commissioner of
Central Excise.
4.5.3 Finalisation of Contract
(a) Each Project Authority shall submit a statement of supplies
received on quarterly basis along with relevant invoices and other
documents to the DGICCE within one month from the last date of
the quarter.
(b) The Commissioner of Central Excise to whom a registered contract
has been forwarded shall forward a statement, after all the items
covered under the contract have been exported, to the DGICCE.
(c) The DGICCE shall, on receipt of the statement, reconcile both
and, if satisfied, finalise the contract and close the entry in the
register.”
4.5.4 There should be a release order from the officer authorised by the General
Manager of the concerned project authority covering he goods;
4.5.5 The exporter shall furnish a bond in the specified Form to the Deputy/Assistant
Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction over the factory or warehouse or the
approved premises or from where the goods are removed for export to the specified
project.
5. Export Procedure
5.1 Procedure at the place of despatch
5.1.1 Six copies of invoice shall be presented to the Superintendent or Inspector of
Central Excise having jurisdiction over the factory, warehouse or any other approved
premises along with the export goods;
5.1.2 In case of export for supplies to Government of India Aided Projects in Nepal and
the Embassy Cooperative Store and Embassy Petrol Pump located in Nepal for the
bonafide use of officers and staff of the Embassy in Nepal, the order from Project
Implementation Authority shall also be presented;
5.1.3 the Superintendent or Inspector of Central Excise having jurisdiction over the
factory, warehouse or any other approved premises shall verify the identity of goods with
reference to description mentioned in the invoice and the particulars of the duty
payable but for export, and if found in order, he shall seal the consignment, tank or
container with Central Excise seal or in such other the manner as may be specified by
the Commissioner of Central Excise and endorse each copy of the export invoice in
token of having such verification and examination done by him;
5.1.4 The said Superintendent or Inspector will allow export and distribute invoices in
the following manner:
Original (First copy) Hand over to the exporter
Duplicate, triplicate and
quadruplicate (second, third and
fourth copies)
Hand over to the exporter or his agent in a
sealed cover for delivery to the Customs
officer in-charge of the Land Customs Station
through which the goods are intended to be
exported.
Quintuplicate copy (Fifth copy) Forwarded to the Assistant Commissioner of
Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of
Central Excise who has accepted the bond
Sixtuplicate (Sixth copy) Retain for official record
5.1.5 The exporter or his agent shall then be free to remove the goods for export to
Nepal through the Land Customs Station indicated on the respective invoices;
5.1.6 Where the goods are exported by land, the export shall take place through any
of the following land customs stations, namely, Sukhiapokhri, Panitanki, Jogbani,
Jayanagar, Bairgania, Bhimnagar, Bitamore (Sursand), Raxaul, Sonauli, Barhni, Nepalganj
Road, Shohratgar (Khunwa), Jarwa, Katarniaghat, Gauriphanta, Banbasa, Jhulaghat,
Dharchula, Naxalbari, Galgalia, Kunauli, Sonabarsa, Tikonia, or such other check-post as
may be specified by the Board;
6. Procedure at the Land Customs Station
6.1 The exporter or his agent shall present the goods to the officer of customs incharge
of the land customs station along with the original copy of the invoice and the
sealed cover containing duplicate, triplicate and quadruplicate copies and obtain
acknowledgement;
6.2 Where the contents of all the copies of invoices tally and the packages, goods or
container are satisfactorily identified with their seals in tact, the officer of customs incharge
of the land customs station shall make necessary entries in the register
maintained at the land customs station and allow the goods to cross into the territory of
Nepal or Bhutan and certify accordingly on each of the four copies of the invoice and
indicate the running serial number in red ink prominently visible and encircled. In case
the seals are not found intact, the officer of customs in charge of the land customs
station may re-seal the containers with his own seal after satisfying himself as to the
identity of the containers and the goods from the particulars shown on the invoice by
opening and examining the goods, if necessary;
6.3 Distribution of invoices by Customs Officer:
Original (First copy) Hand over to the exporter or his agent
alongwith the goods for presentation to the
Customs Officer of Nepal or Bhutan.
Duplicate and triplicate
(Second and third copy)
Send to the Nepalese or Bhutanese Customs
Officer in-charge of the check post through
which the goods are to be imported into Nepal
or Bhutan, as the case may be
6.4 Presentation of goods to Nepalese or Bhutanese Customs Officers: the goods are
then to be produced before the Nepalese or Bhutanese Customs Officer, as the case
may be, at the corresponding border check-post alongwith the original copies of the
invoice. The Nepalese or Bhutanese Customs Officer shall deal with the original and
triplicate copies of the invoice as directed by His Majesty’s Government of Nepal or His
Majesty’s Government of Bhutan and return the duplicate copy, after endorsing his
certificate of receipt of goods in Nepal or Bhutan, as the case may be, directly to the
officer of customs-in-charge of the land customs station in India;
6.5 Further distribution of invoices: The officer of customs in-charge of the land
customs station shall forward the duplicate copy to the Central Excise Officer in charge
of the factory or warehouse from which the goods were removed for export without
payment of duty. For this purpose, the said officer in charge of the land customs station
should keep a note of the return of duplicate copies from the Customs Officer of Nepal
or Bhutan and remind the exporter for such copies as have not been received, failing
which the exporter may be liable to pay full duty on such consignments;
6.6 The officer of customs officers, at the land customs station shall also maintain a
separate record of all such in-bond exports of the goods without payment of duty and
shall assign running serial number on the invoice at the time of export as indicated
earlier;
7. Procedure for discharge of bond or the duty liability
7.1 Essential ingredients for discharge of bond have already been mentioned under
each category of exports.
7.2 The general procedure would be – the exporter shall submit the quadruplicate
copy duly endorsed by the officer of customs in-charge of land customs station to the
Central Excise officer who has accepted the bond alongwith bank, certificate
evidencing receipt of payment in freely convertible currency (in Indian Rupee in
particular category), within six months from the date of removal of the goods. It may be
noticed that earlier, the above mentioned period has been extended from ‘three’
months to ‘six’ months, as compared to erstwhile notification.
7.3 The Central Excise officer will tally the particulars with quintuplicate copy of the
invoice received from the Central Excise officer who has allowed clearance from the
factory or warehouse or any other approved premises and make suitable entries in Bond
Account of the exporter, giving provisional credit or discharging the bond provisionally.
7.4 On receipt of the duplicate copy of invoice, duly endorsed by customs officer of
Nepal or Bhutan from the customs officer in charge of land customs station, certifying
export of the goods and after tallying the particulars with those in quadruplicate copy of
the invoice make suitable entries in Bond Account and the obligation under the said
bond will then be discharged.
7.5 In case of failure to export within six months from the date of removal from the
factory or warehouse or any other approved premises, or shortages noticed, the exporter
shall discharge the duty liability on the goods not so exported or shortage noticed along
with twenty four per cent. interest thereon from the date of removal for export without
payment of duty till the date of payment of duty in terms of the bond.
Part-V
Miscellaneous Export Provisions
1. Cancellation of Export documents
1.1 If the excisable goods cleared under A.R.E.1 are not exported for any reason and
the exporter intends to divert the goods for home consumption, he may request in writing
the authority who accepted the bond or letter of undertaking to allow cancellation of
application, and diversion of goods for consumption in India. He will be permitted to do
so if he pays the duty as specified in the application along with interest at the rate of
twenty four percent per annum on such duty from the date of removal for export from
the factory or warehouse till the date of payment of duty. The permission shall be
granted within 3 working days. Since duty assessment on A.R.E 1 has to be done in
normal course, there will not be any need for re-assessment by the Department or the
assessee unless there are reasons to believe that the assessment was not correct. After
the duty is discharged, the exporter may take credit in his running bond (where bond is
furnished) on the basis of letter of permission, invoice and TR-6 Challans on which duty is
paid. He shall record these facts in the Daily Stock Account
1.2 If the exporter, after clearing the goods for export without payment of duty,
intends to change the destination or buyer or port/place of export, he may do so
provided he informs the bond/LUT accepting authority in writing about the changes and
makes necessary changes in all the copies of A.R.E.1 and the invoices. If he intends to
cancel the original export documents and issue fresh ones, the same may be done
under permission and authentication by bond/LUT accepting authority who will ensure
that the serial no. and date of the initial documents are endorsed on the fresh
documents. In such cases, if bond was furnished for single consignment, fresh bond may
not be asked.
2. Re-entry of the goods, cleared for export under bond but not actually exported, in
the factory of manufacture.
2.1 The excisable goods cleared for export under bond or undertaking but not
actually exported for any genuine reasons may be returned to the same factory
provided –
(i) such goods are returned to the factory within six months along with
original documents (invoice and A.R.E.1);
(ii) the assessee shall give intimation of the re-entry of each consignment in
Form D-3 within twenty-four hours of such re-entry;
(iii) such goods are to be stored for separately at least for 48 hours from the
time intimation is furnished to Range Office or shorter period if verification
is done by the Superintendent of Central Excise in the manner mentioned
subsequently ; and
(iv) the assessee shall record details of such goods in the daily stock account
and taken in the stock in the factory;
2.2 The Superintendent of Central Excise will verify himself or though Inspector in
charge of the factory, about the identity of such goods with reference to invoice, A.R.E.1
and the daily stock account in respect of 5% of intimations, within another 24 hours of
receipt of intimation.
3. Re-import of exported goods for repairs etc. and subsequent re-export
3.1 It has been provided in the Notification 42/2001-Central Excise (N.T.), supra, that
the exported excisable goods which are re-imported for carrying out repairs, reconditioning,
refining, re-making or subject to any similar process may be returned to the
factory of manufacture for carrying out the said processes and subsequent re-export. It
may be noted that ‘re-import and re-export’ shall be governed by the provisions of the
Customs Act, 1962.
3.2 So far Central Excise is concerned, the manufacturer shall maintain separate
account for return of such goods in a daily stock account and make suitable entry on
the said account after goods are processed, repaired, re-conditioned, refined or remade.
When such goods are exported, the usual export procedure shall be followed.
3.3 Any waste or refuse arising as a result of the said processes shall be removed from
the factory on payment of appropriate duty or destroyed after informing the proper
officer in writing at least 7 days in advance and after observing such conditions and
procedure as may be specified by the Commissioner of Central Excise and thereupon
the duty payable on such waste or refuse may be remitted by the said Commissioner of
Central Excise.
4. Entry of goods in another factory of the same manufacturer for consolidation and
loading of consignment for export:
4.1 Goods removed without payment of duty for export on A.R.E.1 from one factory
(hereinafter referred to as ‘the first factory’) of a manufacturer are allowed to enter in
another factory of the said manufacturer (hereinafter referred to as the ‘subsequent
factory’) ONLY for the purpose of consolidation and loading of goods manufactured in
subsequent factory and export therefrom subject to following conditions: –
(i) The exporter shall be required to get his goods examined and sealed at
each factory [the places of despatch] by a Central Excise Officer.
(ii) The export goods shall be brought under cover on invoice and A.R.E.1 in
the subsequent factory in original packing and duly sealed by Central
Excise Officers. In case goods are stuffed in a container, Central Excise
Officer shall duly seal the container in the first factory and the sealing of
each package shall not be insisted upon. The Central Excise Officer
having jurisdiction over the subsequent factory shall supervise the opening
of the seal of container, loading of goods (duly sealed if these goods are
to be loaded in open truck/vehicle) belonging to the subsequent factory
in vehicle or container and sealing of the container.
(iii) The exporter or the manufacturer shall pay the supervision charges.
5. Samples of export goods
5.1 The Central Excise Officer examining the consignment would draw representative
samples wherever necessary in triplicate. He would hand over two sets of samples, duly
sealed, to the exporter or his authorized agent, for delivering to the Customs Officer at
the point of export. He would retain the third set for his records. The instructions and
procedure for drawl of samples specified by the Board should be followed.
Part-VI
Manufacture of export goods in bond
1. Introduction
1.1 The Board has, by Notification No. 43/2001-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 26.6.2001
[hereinafter referred to as the ‘said notification’] notified the conditions, safeguards and
procedures for procurement of the excisable without payment of duty for the purpose of
use in the manufacture or processing of export goods and their exportation out of India,
to any country except Nepal and Bhutan.
1.2 It may be noted that in rule 19 of the said Rules and in said notification, expression
‘export goods’ has been used. This refers to excisable goods (dutiable or exempted) as
well as non-excisable goods. Thus, the benefit of input stage rebate can be claimed on
export of all finished goods whether excisable or not.
1.3 It may be also noted that materials, as defined in the said rule 19 may be used
for manufacture or processing. In other words, any processing not amounting to
manufacture (such as packing, blending etc.) will also be eligible for the benefit under
said notification.
1.4 Removal without payment of duty of equipment and machinery in the nature of
capital goods used in relation to manufacture or process of finished goods shall not be
allowed.
2. Conditions and procedures
2.1 The conditions and procedure for manufacture of export goods in bond shall be,
as follows:
(i) The manufacturer or the processor intending to avail benefit of this
notification shall register himself under rule 9 of the said Rules; and
(ii) The procedure specified in the Central Excise (Removal of Goods at
Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules,
2001 shall be followed, mutatis mutandis. It is clarified that there is no need
for any separate exemption notification for applying this rule.
(iii) The manufacturer or processor shall file a declaration with the
Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction over
the factory of manufacture under the Central Excise (Removal of Goods
at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules,
2001, and also declare ratio of input and output and rate of duty payable
on excisable goods to be procured without payment of duty. Where there
are more than one export product, separate statement of the inputoutput
ratios may be furnished for each export product. The consumption
should be net of recycled materials. Where recoverable wastage are
generated but not recycled but sold on account of its unsuitability, the
same should be clearly reflected in the declaration. The declarant should
also enclose, in case of a new product or in case where the manufacturer
is not regularly manufacturing the export goods and clearing for home
consumption or export, a write up of manufacturing process.
2.2 Verification of Input–output ratio and grant of permission
2.2.1 The Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise shall verify the correctness of
the ratio of input and output mentioned in the declaration filed before commencement
of export of such goods, if necessary, by calling for samples of finished goods or by
inspecting such goods in the factory of manufacture or process. If, after such verification,
the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise is also satisfied that there is no
likelihood of evasion of duty, he may grant permission to the applicant for manufacture
or processing and export of finished goods and countersign the application in the
manner specified in the Central Excise (Removal of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty
for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 2001;
2.2.2 It is clarified that for the sake of convenience and transparency, input output
norms notified under the Export Import Policy may be accepted by the Department
unless there are specific reasons for variation. However, in case, the input output norms
notified under the Export Import Policy does not include all the materials used in export
goods, the claim under this scheme should not be denied merely on that ground.
2.3 If for any reason the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise is not
satisfied with reference to the correctness of the consumption norms claimed by the
applicant, especially where the product is being manufactured for the first time in his
jurisdiction, he may permit the manufacturing operations and the verification of the
consumption norms should be completed while the process of manufacture is on. The
verification should be completed before allowing the export of the goods as the
manufacturer working under this Scheme is expected to declare the raw materials
costumed in ARE-2.
2.4 The permission granted by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise
can be withdrawn at any time if any glaring misuse resulting into loss of revenue comes
to his notice.
2.5 Any change in the consumption ratio [input-output ratio] should be promptly
intimated by the manufacturer to the deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise
and the jurisdictional Range Superintendent giving reference of the permission granted.
If necessary, the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise may order fresh
verification.
3. Procurement of material
3.1 The procedure of procurement of material required for the manufacture shall be
governed by the provisions of the Central Excise (Removal of Goods at Concessional
Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 2001.
4. Removal of materials or partially processed material for processing
4.1 The Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise may permit a manufacturer
to remove the materials as such or after the said materials have been partially processed
during the course of manufacture or processing of finished goods to a place outside the
factory –
(a) for the purposes of test, repairs, refining, reconditioning or carrying out any
other operation necessary for the manufacture of the finished goods and
return the same to his factory without payment of duty for further use in
the manufacture of finished goods or remove the same without payment
of duty in bond for export, provided that the waste, if any, arising in the
course of such operation is also returned to the said factory of the
manufacture or process; or
(b) for the purpose of manufacture of intermediate products necessary for
the manufacture or processing of finished goods and return the said
intermediate products to his factory for further use in the manufacture or
process of finished goods without payment of duty or remove the same,
without payment of duty for export, provided that the waste, if any, arising
in the course of such operation is also returned to the factory of
manufacturer or processor;
(c) Any waste arising from the processing of materials may be removed on
payment of duty as if such waste is manufactured or processed in the
factory of the manufacturer or processor;
5. Procedure for export
5.1 The goods shall be exported on the application in Form A.R.E. 2 specified in the
Annexure-23 and the procedures specified in the Notification No. 42/2001-Central Excise
dated 26th June, 2001 shall be followed. It is mentioned that in such cases, fresh A.R.E.1 is
not required because export will be effected on A.R.E.2 itself. But the procedure
specified in the aforementioned notifications relating to removals, distribution of
documents at the place of despatch and place of export, acceptance of proof of
export etc. shall be followed mutatis mutandis.
5.2 The Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise should point out deficiency,
if any within 15 days of filing of A.R.E.1 duly certified by Customs indicating actual export.
Queries/ deficiencies shall be pointed out at one go and piecemeal queries should be
avoided.
5,3 Only a manufacture or processor of finished goods who exports the goods can
claim benefit of input stage rebate. This facility shall not be extended where export are
through merchant exporters.
5.4 The benefit of input stage rebate cannot be claimed in any of the following
situations:
(i) where the finished goods are exported under Claim for Duty Drawback
(ii) where the finished goods are exported in discharge of export obligations
under a Value Advance Licence or a Quantity Based Advance Licence
issued before 31.03.95.
(iii) where facility of input stage credit is availed under CENVAT Credit Rules,
2001
6. Accounts & Returns
6.1 The manufacturer shall maintain register of duty free materials brought to the
factory for manufacture of finished goods for export and the account for finished goods
manufactured and exported. Any officer duly empowered by the Deputy/Assistant
Commissioner of Central Excise in this behalf shall have access at all reasonable times to
any premises indicated in the application. The applicant shall also permit the officer of
Central Excise access to any records relating to the production, storage and export of
goods.
6.2 The colour coding of A.R.E.2 will be as follows:-
Original White
Duplicate Buff
Triplicate Pink
Quadruplicate Green
Quintuplicate Blue
7. Checks by Customs Officers
7.1 Samples will be invariably drawn by the Customs Officers for testing at the place
of export in case the export goods are of sensitive nature considering that they are
made from materials bearing high Central Excise Duty.
7.2 Customs officer responsible for making endorsement in A.R.E.2 shall carefully
check that exports are not covered under any of the following:
– The Duty Drawback Scheme
– A Value Based Advance Licence issued prior to 31.03.95
– A Quantity Based Advance Licence issued prior to 31.03.95
8. The Deputy/Assistant Commissioner sanctioning rebate shall ensure that the
relevant transport copies (duplicate copies) of Duty paying document have been
suitably defaced before payment is made.

EXIM BUSINESS Concession and Exemption’s Scheme

The Duty Exemption Scheme enables import of inputs required for export production. The Duty Remission Scheme enables post export replenishment/ remission of duty on inputs used in the export product.

These schemes are mostly available on those imported products, which will be later on used for manufacturing of goods meant for export. This not only stimulates the industrial growth and development, but also brings the foreign currency during the final export process. The following are some of the important import incentives offered by the Government of India, which significantly reduce the effective tax rates for the import companies:

Preferential Rates

Any type of import incentive under preferential rate is only applicable for the import o goods from certain preferential countries such as Mauritius, Seychelles and Tonga provided certain conditions are satisfied. The certificate of origin is very important in order to avail of the benefits of such concessional rates of duty.

Duty Entitlement Passbook DEPB Scheme

Duty Entitlement Pass Book in short
DEPB is basically an export incentive scheme. The objective of DEPB scheme is to neutralize the incidence of basic custom duty on the import content of the exported products. Notified on 1/4/1997, the DEPB Scheme consisted of (a) Post-export DEPB and (b) Pre-export DEPB. The pre-export DEPB scheme was abolished w.e.f. 1/4/2000. Under the post-export DEPB, which is issued after exports, the exporter is given a duty entitlement Pass Book at a pre-determined credit on the FOB value. The DEPB allows import of any items except the items which are otherwise restricted for imports.

Duty Drawback Rates

Duty Drawback is the special rebate given under the Section 75 of Indian Customs Act on exported products or materials. Duty drawback rates or concession are only applicable on products which are used in the processing of goods manufactured in India and then exported to foreign countries.
Duty Drawback is not given on inputs obtained without payment of customs or excise duty. In case of re-export of goods, it should be done within 2 years from the date of payment of duty when they were imported. 98% of the duty are allowable as a drawback, only after inspection. If the goods imported are used before its re-export, the drawback will be allowed as at reduced per cent.

All industry drawback rates are fixed by Directorate of Drawback, Dept. of Revenue, Ministry of Finance and Government of India and are periodically revised – normally on 1st June every year.Section 37B of Central Excise Act allows the Central Government to frame rules for the purpose of the Act. Under these powers, ‘Customs and Central Excise Duties Drawback Rules, 1995’ have been framed.

Duty Free Replenishment Certificate – (DFRC)

Under the Duty Free Replenishment Certificate (DFRC) schemes, import incentives are given to the exporter for the import of inputs used in the manufacture of goods without payment of basic customs duty. Such inputs shall be subject to the payment of additional customs duty equal to the excise duty at the time of import. Duty Free Replenishment Certificate (DFRC) shall be available for exports only up to 30.04.2006 and from 01.05.2006 this scheme is being replaced by the Duty Free Import Authorization (DFIA).

Duty Free Import Authorization – DFIA

Effective from 1st May, 2006, Duty Free Import Authorization or DFIA in short is issued to allow duty free import of inputs which are used in the manufacture of the export product (making normal allowance for wastage), and fuel, energy, catalyst etc. Which are consumed or utilized in the course of their use to obtain the export product. A Duty Free Import Authorization is issued on the basis of inputs and export items given under Standard Input and Output Norms (SION).

Deemed Exports

Deemed Export is a special type of transaction in which the payment is received before the goods are delivered. The payment can be done in Indian Rupees or in
Foreign Exchange. As the deemed export is also a source of foreign exchange, so the Government of India has been given the benefit duty free import of inputs.

Agri Export Zones – AEZ

Various importers that come under the Agri Export Zones are entitled to all the import facilities and incentives.

Served from India

In order to create a powerful “Served from India” brand all over the world, the government has provided different type of import incentive to the invisible export providers. Under the Served from India Scheme, import incentive is given for import of any capital goods, spares, office equipment and professional equipment.

Manufacture under Bond

Under the Manufacture under the Bond Scheme, all factories registered to produce their goods for export are exempted from import duty and other taxes on inputs used to manufacture such goods. Against this, the manufacturer is allowed to import goods without paying any customs duty. The production is made under the
Supervision of customs or excise authority.

Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme -EPCG

EPCG is a special type of incentive given to the EPCG license holder. Capital goods imported under

EPCG Scheme
is subject to actual user condition and the same cannot be transferred /sold till the fulfillment of export obligation specified in the license. In order to ensure that the capital goods imported under EPCG Scheme, the license holder is required to produce certificate from the jurisdictional Central Excise Authority (CEA) or Chartered Engineer (CE) confirming installation of such capital goods in the declared premises. Under Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme, a license holder can import capital goods such as plant, machinery, equipment, components and spare parts of the machinery at concessional rate of customs duty of 5% and without CVD and special duty.

Advance Customs Clearance Permit

Under the sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Government exempts goods imported into India, against an Advance Customs Clearance Permit issued on or before 31st March, 1995 under Para 58 of the Export and Import Policy 1992-1997. Advance Customs Clearance Permit allows an importer to import raw materials, components, packing and labeling materials, etc. without payment of customs duty in India. The product is then used by the Indian manufacturer to make the final product as required by the foreign buyers on job work basis. After manufacturing the final product is then exported without imposing kind of taxes from the custom department.

Project Imports

Any incentives under the Project Import are given for those imported items needed for setting up an independent project. After the establishment of the project, its final manufactured product is used for the export purpose. Imports scheme is applied to Industrial Plants, Irrigation Projects, Power Projects, Mining Projects, and Projects for Oil or Mineral Exploration. The items eligible for project imports are specified in heading 98.01 of the Customs Tariffs Act, 1975, which mostly include machinery items.

Focus Market Scheme – FMS

The objective of Focus Market Scheme is to offset the high freight cost and other disabilities to select international market with a view to enhance export competitiveness to these countries. The exporter shall be entitled to get credit 2.5% of FOB value of the export made in countries listed in Appendix – 37C.

Focus Product Scheme – FPS

The objective of Focus Product Scheme is to incentives export of such products which have high employment intensity in rural and semi-rural areas so as to offset the inherent infrastructure inefficiencies and other associates costs involved in marketing of these products. The exporter shall be entitled to get credit 1.25% of FOB value of the export made of these products listed in Appendix – 37D.

Monitoring Realization of Export Proceeds in EDI

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (EXPORT),

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CUSTOM HOUSE,

NHAVA SHEVA,TAL. URAN, DIST. RAIGAD, MAHARASHTRA – 400 707.

 

F.No.S/12-Gen-1450/07 DBK(JCH) Date : 09.03.09

 

PUBLIC NOTICE NO.11/2009
(Referred/amended Vide P.N. No. 12/2011, 37/2011, 52/2010, 44/2014, 29 /2015)

 

Subject:  Systems Alert for Monitoring Realization of Export Proceeds in EDI – reg.

 

Attention of all the exporters, trade and industry, CHA and all concerned is invited to the Board’s circular No. 5/2009-Cus. dated 2nd February, 2009 vide F.NO.609/167/2003-DBK.

  

  1. In terms of the provisions of Section 75 (1) of the Customs Act, 1962 read with sub-rule 16A (1) of the Customs, Central Excise Duties and Service Tax Drawback Rules, 1995, where an amount of drawback has been paid to an exporter but the sale proceeds in respect of such export goods have not been realized within the time allowed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, such drawback amount is to be recovered. Sub-rule 16A (2) stipulates that if the exporter fails to produce evidence in respect of realization of export proceeds within the period allowed under the FEMA, 1999 or as extended by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner of Customs shall issue a notice to the exporter for production of evidence of realization of export proceeds, failing which an order shall be passed to recover the amount of drawback paid to the claimant.

 

  1. Hitherto, the action to recover drawback was being taken on the basis of Export Outstanding Statement (XOS) received from RBI. The XOS is a consolidated half-yearly Statement giving details of all export Bills outstanding beyond the period prescribed for realization  within   15 days  from  the  close of  the  half  year  i.e.  June / December. However, following the issuance of RBI Circular No. 61 dated 31.1.2004 dispensing  with  submission  of  declarations   for   export   of goods   of   value not exceeding US$ 25,000, it is  observed  that a  large  number of   the   export consignments  presently  fall  outside the purview of  monitoring  mechanism through XOS inasmuch  as the shipment details  of  goods valued upto $ 25,000  are no longer reported  through this statement.

 

  1. In view of this change, particularly considering that  under the  statute, the drawback   payment   is ultimately linked to the realization of export proceeds, it has become necessary  for the Department to put  in place  an  in- house monitoring mechanism to monitor  the realization of such proceeds for exports made under the Drawback Scheme. Extensive consultations were held with field formations and trade & industry in this regard, and subsequently, the matter was examined by the Board.  For monitoring the realization  of export proceeds  for drawback purposes, the Board has decided  that the exporters  will submit a  certificate from the authorized dealer (s) or chartered accountant  providing details  of shipment which remain outstanding beyond the prescribed time limit including the extended time,  if any, allowed  by the authorized dealer/RBI on a 6 monthly basis. Such certificate shall be furnished by the exporter, authorised dealer wise for each port.  In order to put the exporters on notice at the time of export itself, an endorsement on the exporter’s copy of shipping bill would be made specifying the due date for realization of export proceeds.

 

  1. In the light of decisions taken by the Board, the Directorate General of Systems has developed a BRC ( Bank Realization Certificate) Software for ICES, the salient features of which are the following:-

 

 (a) The exporters filing Shipping Bills (S/Bs) under drawback shall furnish a declaration to the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner (Drawback) providing the details of all Authorized Dealers (AD), their codes and addresses through whom they intend to realize the export proceeds. Such a declaration shall be filed at each port of export through which the exporter exports his goods.  In case, there is a new addition of AD, the same is to be intimated to the concerned Custom House at the port of export.

  

(b) The system would generate on all Drawback Shipping Bills, the due date for submission of BRCs.

 

(c) The exporter shall submit a certificate from the Authorized Dealer(s) in respect of whom declaration has been filed containing details of the shipments which remain outstanding beyond the prescribed time limit, including the extended time, if any, allowed by AD/RBI. Such a certificate can also be provided by a Chartered accountant in his capacity as a statutory auditor of the exporter’s account. A proforma for furnishing such negative statement is enclosed as Annexure.  Further, the exporters also have the option of giving a BRC from the concerned authorized dealer(s).

 

(d) Such certificates shall be furnished by the exporters on a 6 monthly basis before the 7th day of January and July in respect of exports which have become due for realization in the previous 6 months. For example, for the six-monthly period of January- June 2008 (during which exports were effected), the statement/BRC needs to be submitted by the 7th July, 2009.

 

 (e)    Such certificates shall be filed by the exporter AD wise at each port. The relevant date for filing certificates shall be the date of let export order (LEO) which is the date when the export goods are in effect permitted to be exported.

 

(f)  The software shall indicate list of the shipping bills under drawback where the BRC/negative statement has not been furnished by the exporter within the prescribed date.  The Assistant Commissioner / Deputy Commissioner (Export) may peruse such lists either for the entire Customs port or for an individual exporter by entering the IE code of the exporter and accordingly initiate action to recover drawback.

 

(g)  The BRC entry module gives three options for entering the details of foreign exchange realization

 

(i)  If the exporter furnishes the BRCs as a proof of foreign exchange realization, the officer will choose option (1) and enter the specific Shipping Bill numbers and dates.  Such Shipping Bills will be deleted by the system from the list of shipping bills pending for realization of export proceeds.

 

 (ii) If the exporter produces a “negative statement” for a specified six monthly period from the AD/chartered accountant that no foreign exchange is pending realization for the exporter in the given period, the officer will choose option (2).  The system will automatically display the S/Bs pertaining to the given period on screen and once the officer approves, all such shipping bills shall be deleted from the pendency list.

 

 (iii)    If the negative statement furnished by the exporter gives the list of S/Bs, for a particular six month period, for which foreign exchange has not been realized (and by implication foreign exchange has been realized for all other S/Bs) then, the officer will choose option (3). This will allow the officer to enter the S/Bs for which the BRCs are pending.  Thereafter, all S/Bs except such pending S/Bs will be deleted from the list.

 

(iv) The BRC entry module also enables the Department to remove the list of S/Bs from the pendency list if drawback is recovered subsequently.  In such cases, the officer may choose option (1) and enter the order no./challan no. and date and also the no. and date of all shipping Bills for which the drawback has been realized.  Thereafter, all such S/Bs will be deleted from the pendency list.

 

  1. The Custom House shall create a special cell for management of declarations, amendments thereto, Annexure certificates, registers etc.  The cell shall be responsible for keeping the Declarations and other relevant papers in a proper manner and tracking the remittance of export proceeds.  Further, officers will be specially designated by the Commissioner to verify the BRC/negative statement and to make entries in the BRC module.  Notices will be issued by Customs to recover drawback paid on export consignments in respect of which export proceeds have not been realized

 

  1. The system will indicate to the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner (Drawback) all cases of Drawback Shipping bills with LEO date falling on or after 1.1.2008 if the BRC/negative statement in the prescribed  Annexure  is not submitted by the exporter within the prescribed period. Further, the exporters are required to furnish the BRCs/negative statement in the prescribed Annexure in respect of all the Drawback Shipping Bills having LEO dates from 1.1.2004 to 31.12.2007 (separately for each six month period) within a period of four months from the date of issue of this circular.

 

  1. In addition to the list of pending shipping bills (for which export realization has not been received) indicated by the system, the Commissioners shall also by way of audit, exercise special checks in case of first time exporters, exporters who have taken large amounts of drawback suddenly, sensitive destinations, sensitive products etc. so as to ensure that there is no misuse of the drawback facility.  They shall also exercise random audit checks in respect of other exporters to ensure that all export proceeds are realized. During the course of audit, it may also be confirmed on a random basis whether the certificates given by the AD/CA are genuine or not by on the spot verification. A proper record of all such audit checks and the period of audit should be maintained.

 

  1. Difficulties faced, if any, in implementation of the Circular may be brought to the notice of the Commissioner of Customs (Export), JNCH at an early date.

 

 

 

(K. L. GOYAL)
COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (EXPORT)
JNCH, NHAVA SHEVA

 

 

ANNEXURE

Certificate in case provided by the Authorized dealer *.

This is to certify that the export proceeds in respect of export shipments made by

M/s_____________________ during the period ___________ for which the documents

have been processed by us have been received except for the following consignments as per details given below:

  1. Name of the exporter :
  2. IEC No. :
  3. Port of export :
  4. Details of exports pending realization :

 

Sl.

No.

 

Shipping bill

number and

date

 

Due date

for

realization

 

Amount

pending

realization

 

Remarks like whether exporter has been granted extension or applied for extension or waiver or any other reasons for non-recovery
         

 

 

 

Place: Signature and details of Authorized Dealer (AD)

Date: CodeNo.

* Certificates are to be furnished Authorized Dealer-wise for each port separately for the

 

 

ANNEXURE

Certificate in case provided by the Chartered Accountant **.

I/We have audited the accounts of M/s____________________ and on that basis

certify that the export proceeds for export shipments made during the period

__________ to _________ have been received except for the following consignments as

per details given below:

  1. Name of the exporter :
  2. IEC No. :
  3. Port of export :
  4. Details of exports pending realization :

 

Sl.

No.

 

Shipping bill

number and

date

 

Due date

for

realization

 

Amount

pending

realization

 

Remarks like whether exporter has been granted extension or applied for extension or waiver or any other reasons for non-recovery
         

 

 

Place: Signature and details of chartered accountant

Date: CA Registration No.

 

** Certificates are to be furnished for each port separately for the periods January – June/July- December every year

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Please Contact

FOR AASHIRGURKAR&ASSOCIATES 

ADV.AMOL A SHIRGURKAR

_________________________________________________________________________________

AASHIRGURKAR&ASSOCIATES 

[International Business & Corporate Legal Services]

Registered & Head Office:

Building No A-1, Flat No-3, Sadbhav Co-op Housing Society. 

Kothrud, Pune-411029 Maharashtra (INDIA) 

Corporate Office:

Pune:T-4 Priyadarshani Housing Society. Ganesh Mala

Near Ganesh Temple, Pune-411030 Maharashtra (INDIA)  

Sangli:F-3, Shree Bhalchandra Sahaniwas
C.S.No.12376F, Samarth Chowk, Near Sanjeen Hospital, 
Gulmohar Colony, Sangli-416416 Maharashtra (INDIA)

 

Contact No: +91 98509 51986 & 

Whaz App:  +91 94203 52095

Web site: http://aashirgurkarassociates.webs.com

              http://aashirgurkarassociates.com

Blog: https://yashankur.wordpress.com/

Skype: amolshirgurkar

Linked In & Twitter: AASHIRGURKAR  

Save a tree. Don’t print this e-mail unless it’s really necessary

 

Green Zone

All lands are basically agricultural land so all lands not falling in any non-agricultural categories are deemed to be agricultural land irrespective of they are used for cultivation or not. Where the area is primarily engaged in agricultural activity the Regional Plan allocates the land of the area for agricultural activity and categories it as the Green Zone.

 

The aim is to protect agricultural activity, preserve area for recreational use and arrest urban sprawl. Although Green Zone is much like Forestzone, lands falling under Green Zone cannot be purely used for agricultural activity alone for number of reasons. For example;

 

  1. In every village there are some places which are reserved for village settlement. The place reserved for this purpose is called Gaothan. Population of rural area is ever increasing. To meet the growing requirement of housing and allied activities provisions are made in MLR Code and in the Bombay Village Grampanchayat Act for extension of Gaothan.
  2. Agricultural land is required to use for other purposes such as,agro-based industries for processing farm produce.
  3. Village needs roads for commuting, a hospital for the health care and schools for education.
  4. Although poultry farms, horticultural project, cattle stables, piggeries, sheep farms are agricultural activities, they consume agricultural land for erecting buildings for above production.
  5. Due to high value and shortage of large size land in urban area many space extensive activities such as educational, medical, social, cultural religious institutions, film and video shooting sites are not possible in urban areas.

 

Generally the Regional Plans permits below mentioned activities in the Green Zone under some conditions.

 

 

  1. a) Gaothan and Gaothan Expansion Schemes.
  2. b) Farm buildings as permissible under Section 41 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue

Code, 1966;

  1. c) Holidayresorts, holiday homes.
  2. d) Single-family houses on plots not less than 2000 sq.m. in area.
  3. e)Educational, medical, social, cultural and religious institutions along with residential quarters, and shops for the staff and the primary school, pre-primary school and health centre.
  4. f) Film and video shooting sites with studio and other related facilities
  5. g)Godowns, container park, open ground storage of non-hazardous and non-obnoxious

nature on the major district roads, state highways, or road having width 15.00 m or more and away from 500 m from Gaothan and National Highway.

  1. h)Agricultural and allied activities and agro-based industries, rice mill, poha mill, saw mill, cold storage, horticultural project, poultry farms, cattle stables, piggeries, sheep farms.
  2. i)Religious places, crematorium and cemetery;
  3. j) Parks, gardens, play fields, golf courses, swimming pools, race courses, shooting ranges, camping grounds, facilities for water sports, amusement parks, theme parks;
  4. k) Fish farms, fish drying, storage of boats, servicing and repairs of boats;
  5. l)Quarrying of stone, murum or earth including mechanised stone crushing or stone dressing and temporary housing of laborers, office of the supervisors, managers and other accessory buildings related to quarrying activity.’
  6. m) Small scale industries and resource based industries and processing plants employing local resources and giving employment to the local population in the rural areas having land requirements of not more than 4000 sq.m subject to not more than 2.0 ha in each village may be freely allowed in villages located 8 km from major industrial department.
  7. n) Roads and bridges, railways, heliports, airports, ports, jetties, dams, pipelines, electricity transmission lines, communication towers, rope ways and such other essential services.
  8. o) Highway amenities and services such as petrol pump, small shops, service stations including emergency repair services, restaurants, parking lots and police check-post.

 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FOREIGN TRADE POLICY 2015-2020 (INFORMATIVE BLOG)

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FOREIGN TRADE POLICY 2015-2020

A.  SIMPLIFICATION & MERGER OF REWARD SCHEMES

Export from India Schemes:

1. Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)
(a) Earlier there were 5 different schemes (Focus Product Scheme, Market Linked Focus Product Scheme, Focus Market Scheme, Agri. Infrastructure Incentive Scrip, VKGUY) for rewarding merchandise exports with different kinds of duty scrips with varying conditions (sector specific or actual user only) attached to their use. Now all these schemes have been merged into a single scheme, namely Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) and there would be no conditionality attached to the scrips issued under the scheme. The main features of MEIS, including details of various groups of products supported under MEIS and the country groupings are at Annexure-1.
(b) Rewards for export of notifying goods to notified markets under ‘Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) shall be payable as a percentage of realizing FOB value (in free foreign exchange). The debits towards basic customs duty in the transferable reward duty credit scrips would also be allowed adjustment as duty drawback. At present, only the additional duty of customs / excise duty / service tax is allowed adjustment as CENVAT credit or drawback, as per Department of Revenue rules.
2. Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)
(a) Served From India Scheme (SFIS) has been replaced by Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS). SEIS shall apply to ‘Service Providers located in India’ instead of ‘Indian Service Providers’. Thus SEIS provides for rewards to all Service providers of notifying services, who are providing services from India, regardless of the constitution or the profile of the service provider. The list of services and the rates of rewards under SEIS are at Annexure-2.
(b) The rate of reward under SEIS would be based on net foreign exchange earned. The reward issued as duty credit scrip, would no longer be with actual user condition and will no longer be restricted to usage for specified types of goods, but be freely transferable and usable for all types of goods and service tax debits on procurement of services / goods. Debits would be eligible for CENVAT credit or drawback.
3. Chapter -3 Incentives (MEIS & SEIS) to be available for SEZs It is now proposed to extend Chapter -3 Incentives (MEIS & SEIS) to units located in SEZs also.
4. Duty credit scrips to be freely transferable and usable for payment of custom duty, excise duty and service tax.
(a) All scrips issued under MEIS and SEIS and the goods imported against these scrips would be fully transferable.
(b) Scrips issued under Exports from India Schemes can be used for the following:-
(i) Payment of customs duty for import of inputs / goods including capital goods, except items listed in Appendix 3A.
(ii) Payment of excise duty on domestic procurement of inputs or goods, including capital goods as per DoR notification.
(iii) Payment of service tax on procurement of services as per DoR notification.
(c) Basic Customs Duty paid in cash or through debit under the Duty Credit Scrip can be taken back as Duty Drawback as per DoR Rules, if inputs so imported are used for exports.

5. Status Holders

(a) Business leaders who have excelled in international trade and have successfully contributed to country’s foreign trade are proposed to be recognized as Status Holders and given special treatment and privileges to facilitate their trade transactions, in order to reduce their transaction costs and time.
(b) The nomenclature of Export House, Star Export House, Trading House, Star Trading House, Premier Trading House certificate has been changed to One, Two, Three, Four, Five Star Export House.
(c) The criteria for export performance for recognition of status holder have been changed from Rupees to US dollar earnings. The new criteria is as under:-

Status category Export Performance FOB / FOR (as converted)
Value (in US $ million) during current and previous two years
One Star Export House 3
Two Star Export House 25
Three Star Export House 100
Four Star Export House 500
Five Star Export House 2000
(d) Approved Exporter Scheme – Self certification by Status Holders Manufacturers who are also Status Holders will be enabled to self-certify their manufactured goods as originating from India with a view to qualify for preferential treatment under different Preferential Trading Agreements [PTAs], Free Trade Agreements [FTAs], Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements [CECAs] and Comprehensive Economic Partnerships Agreements [CEPAs] which are in operation. They shall be permitted to self-certify the goods as manufactured as per their Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) / Industrial Licence (IL)/ Letter of Intent (LOI).
B. BOOST TO “MAKE IN INDIA”
6. Reduced Export Obligation (EO) for domestic procurement under EPCG scheme:
Specific Export Obligation under EPCG scheme, in case capital goods are procured from indigenous manufacturers, which is currently 90% of the normal export obligation (6 times at the duty saved amount) has been reduced to 75%, in order to promote domestic capital goods manufacturing industry.
7. Higher level of rewards under MEIS for export items with high domestic content and value addition.
It is proposed to give higher level of rewards to products with high domestic content and value addition, as compared to products with high import content and less value addition.

C. TRADE FACILITATION & EASE OF DOING BUSINESS
8. Online filing of documents/ applications and Paperless trade in 24×7 environment:
(a) DGFT already provides facility of Online filing of various applications under FTP by the exporters/importers. However, certain documents like Certificates issued by Chartered Accountants/ Company Secretary / Cost Accountant etc. have to be filed in physical forms only. In order to move further towards paperless processing of reward schemes, it has been decided to develop an online procedure to upload digitally signed documents by Chartered Accountant / Company Secretary / Cost Accountant. In the new system, it will be possible to upload online documents like annexure attached to ANF 3B, ANF 3C and ANF 3D, which are at present signed by these signatories and submitted physically.
(b) Henceforth, hardcopies of applications and specified documents would not be required to be submitted to RA, saving paper as well as cost and time for the exporters. To start with, applications under Chapter 3 & 4 of FTP are being covered (which account for nearly 70% of total applications in DGFT). Applications under Chapter-5 would be taken up in the next phase.
(c) As a measure of ease of doing business, landing documents of export consignment as proofs for notified market can be digitally uploaded in the following manner:-
(i) Any exporter may upload the scanned copy of Bill of Entry under his digital signature.
(ii) Status holders falling in the category of Three Star, Four Star or Five Star Export House may upload scanned copies of documents.
9. Online inter-ministerial consultations:
It is proposed to have Online inter-ministerial consultations for approval of export of SCOMET items, Norms fixation, Import Authorisations, Export Authorisation, in a phased manner, with the objective to reduce time for approval. As a result, there would not be any need to submit hard copies of documents for these purposes by the exporters.

10. Simplification of procedures/processes, digitisation and e-governance
(a) Under EPCG scheme, obtaining and submitting a certificate from an independent Chartered Engineer, confirming the use of spares, tools, refractory and catalysts imported for final redemption of EPCG authorizations has been dispensed with.
(b) At present, the EPCG Authorisation holders are required to maintain records for 3 years after redemption of Authorisations. Now the EPCG Authorization Holders shall be required to maintain records for a period of two years only. Government’s endeavour is to gradually phase out this requirement as the relevant records such as Shipping Bills, e-BRC are likely to be available in electronic mode which can be archived and retrieved whenever required.
(c) Exporter Importer Profile: Facility has been created to upload documents in Exporter/Importer Profile. There will be no need to submit copies of permanent records/ documents (e.g. IEC, Manufacturing licence, RCMC, PAN etc.) repeatedly with each application, once uploaded.
(d) Communication with Exporters/Importers: Certain information, like mobile number, e-mail address etc. has been added as mandatory fields, in IEC data base. This information once provided by exporters, would help in better communication with exporters. SMS/ email would be sent to exporters to inform them about issuance of authorisations or status of their applications.
(e) Online message exchange with CBDT and MCA: It has been decided to have on line message exchange with CBDT for PAN data and with Ministry of Corporate Affairs for CIN and DIN data. This integration would obviate the need for seeking information from IEC holders for subsequent amendments/ updation of data in IEC data base.
(e) Communication with Committees of DGFT: For faster and paperless communication with various committees of DGFT, dedicated e-mail addresses have been provided to each Norms Committee, Import Committee and Pre-Shipment Inspection Agency for faster communication.
(f) Online applications for refunds: Online filing of application for refund of TED is being introduced for which a new ANF has been created.

11. Forthcoming e-Governance Initiatives
(a) DGFT is currently working on the following EDI initiatives:
(i) Message exchange for transmission of export reward scrips from DGFT to Customs.
(ii) Message exchange for transmission of Bills of Entry (import details) from Customs to DGFT.
(iii) Online issuance of Export Obligation Discharge Certificate (EODC).
(iv) Message exchange with Ministry of Corporate Affairs for CIN & DIN.
(v) Message exchange with CBDT for PAN.
(vi) Facility to pay application fee using debit card / credit card.
(vii) Open API for submission of IEC application.
(viii) Mobile applications for FTP
D. Other New Initiatives
12. New initiatives for EOUs, EHTPs and STPs
(a) EOUs, EHTPs, STPs have been allowed to share infrastructural facilities among themselves. This will enable units to utilize their infrastructural facilities in an optimum way and avoid duplication of efforts and cost to create separate infrastructural facilities in different units.
(b) Inter unit transfer of goods and services have been allowed among EOUs, EHTPs, STPs, and BTPs. This will facilitate group of those units which source inputs centrally in order to obtain bulk discount. This will reduce cost of transportation, other logistic costs and result in maintaining effective supply chain.
(c) EOUs have been allowed facility to set up Warehouses near the port of export. This will help in reducing lead time for delivery of goods and will also address the issue of un-predictability of supply orders.
(d) STP units, EHTP units, software EOUs have been allowed the facility to use all duty free equipment/goods for training purposes. This will help these units in developing skills of their employees.
(e) 100% EOU units have been allowed facility of supply of spares/ components up to 2% of the value of the manufactured articles to a buyer in domestic market for the purpose of after sale services.
(f) At present, in a period of 5 years EOU units have to achieve Positive Net Foreign Exchange Earning (NEE) cumulatively. Because of adverse market condition or any ground of genuine hardship, then such period of 5 years for NFE completion can be extended by one year.
(f) Time period for validity of Letter of Permission (LOP) for EOUs/EHTP/ STPI/BTP Units has been revised for faster implementation and monitoring of projects. Now, LOP will have an initial validity of 2 years to enable the unit to construct the plant and install the machinery. Further extension can be granted by the Development Commissioner up to one year. Extension beyond 3 years of the validity of LOP, can be granted, in case unit has completed 2/3rd of activities, including the construction activities.
(g) At present, EOUs/EHTP/STPI units are permitted to transfer capital goods to other EOUs, EHTPs, STPs, SEZ units. Now a facility has been provided that if such transferred capital goods are rejected by the recipient, then the same can be returned to the supplying unit, without payment of duty.
(h) A simplified procedure will be provided to fast track the de-bonding / exit of the STP/ EHTP units. This will save time for these units and help in the reduction of transaction cost.
(i) EOUs having physical export turnover of Rs.10 crore and above, have been allowed the facility of fast track clearances of import and domestic procurement. They will be allowed fast tract clearances of goods, for export production, on the basis of pre-authenticated procurement certificate, issued by customs / central excise authorities. They will not have to seek procurement permission for every import consignment.
13. Facilitating & Encouraging Export of dual use items (SCOMET).
(a) Validity of SCOMET export authorization has been extended from the present 12 months to 24 months. It will help industry to plan their activity in an orderly manner and obviate the need to seek revalidation or relaxation from the DGFT.
(b) Authorisation for repeat orders will be considered on automatic basis subject to certain conditions.
(c) Verification of End User Certificate (EUC) is being simplified if SCOMET item is being exported under Defence Export Offset Policy.
(c) Outreach programmes will be conducted at different locations to raise awareness among various stakeholders.

14 Facilitating & Encouraging Export of Defence Exports
(a) Normal export obligation period under advance authorization is 18 months. Export obligation period for export items falling in the category of defence, military store, aerospace and nuclear energy shall be 24 months from the date of issue of authorization or co-terminus with contracted duration of the export order, whichever is later. This provision will help export of defence items and other high technology items.
(b) A list of military stores requiring NOC of Department of Defence Production has been notified by DGFT recently. A committee has been formed to create ITC (HS) codes for defence and security items for which industrial licenses are issued by DIPP.
15. e-Commerce Exports
(a) Goods falling in the category of handloom products, books / periodicals, leather footwear, toys and customized fashion garments, having FOB value up to Rs.25000 per consignment (finalized using e-Commerce platform) shall be eligible for benefits under FTP. Such goods can be exported in manual mode through Foreign Post Offices at New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
(b) Export of such goods under Courier Regulations shall be allowed manually on pilot basis through Airports at Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai as per appropriate amendments in regulations to be made by Department of Revenue. Department of Revenue shall fast track the implementation of EDI mode at courier terminals.
16. Duty Exemption
(a) Imports against Advance Authorization shall also be eligible for exemption from Transitional Product Specific Safeguard Duty.
(b) In order to encourage manufacturing of capital goods in India, import under EPCG Authorisation Scheme shall not be eligible for exemption from payment of anti-dumping duty, safeguard duty and transitional product specific safeguard duty.

17. Additional Ports allowed for Export and import
Calicut Airport, Kerala and Arakonam ICD, Tamil Nadu have been notified as registered ports for import and export.

18. Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme
India has already extended duty free tariff preference to 33 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) across the globe. This is being notified under FTP.

19. Quality complaints and Trade Disputes
(a) In an endeavor to resolve quality complaints and trade disputes, between exporters and importers, a new chapter, namely, Chapter on Quality Complaints and Trade Disputes has been incorporated in the Foreign Trade Policy.
(b) For resolving such disputes at a faster pace, a Committee on Quality Complaints and Trade Disputes (CQCTD) is being constituted in 22 offices and would have members from EPCs/FIEOs/APEDA/EICs.
20. Vishakhapatnam and Bhimavaram added as Towns of Export Excellence Government has already recognized 33 towns as export excellence towns. It has been decided to add Vishakhapatnam and Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh as towns of export excellence (Product Category– Seafood)
Annexure-1
I. Merchandise Exports from India Scheme
(i) Merchandise Exports from India Scheme has replaced 5 different schemes of earlier, FTP (Focus Product Scheme, Market Linked Focus Product Scheme, Focus Market Scheme, Agri. Infrastructure Incentive Scrip, VKGUY) for rewarding merchandise exports, which had varying conditions (sector specific or actual user only) attached to their use.
(ii) Now all these schemes have been merged into a single scheme, namely Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) and there would be no conditionality attached to the scrips issued under the scheme. Notified goods exported to notified markets would be rewarded for the realized FOB value of exports.

A. Country Groups:
Category A: Traditional Markets (30) – European Union (28), USA, Canada.
Category B: Emerging & Focus Markets (139), Africa (55), Latin America and Mexico (45), CIS countries (12), Turkey and West Asian countries (13), ASEAN countries (10), Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan,
Category C: Other Markets (70).
B. Products supported under MEIS
Level of Support:
Higher rewards have been granted for the following category of products:
 Agricultural and Village industry products, presently covered under VKGUY.
 Value added and packaged products.
 Eco-friendly and green products that create wealth out of waste from agricultural and other waste products that generate additional income for the farmers, while improving the environment.
 Labour intensive Products with large employment potential and Products with large number of producers and /or exporters.
 Industrial Products from potential winning sectors.
 Hi-tech products with high export earning potential.
C. Markets Supported
 Most Agricultural products supported across the Globe.
 Industries and other products supported in Traditional and/or Emerging markets only.
21
D. High potential products not supported earlier:
Support to 852 Tariff lines that fit in the product criteria, but not provided support in the earlier FTP. Includes lines from Fruits, Vegetables, Dairy products, Oils meals, Ayush & Herbal Products, Paper, Paper Board Products.
E. Global support has been granted to the following category:
 Fruits, Flowers, vegetables
 Tea Coffee, Spices
 Cereals preparation, shellac, Essential oils
 Processed foods,
 Eco Friendly products that add value to waste
 Marine Products
 Handloom, Coir, Jute, products and Technical Textiles, Carpets Handmade. Other Textile and Readymade garments have been supported for European Union, USA, Canada and Japan.
 Handicraft, Sports Goods
 Furniture, wood articles
F. Support to major markets have been given to the following product categories
 Pharmaceuticals, Herbals, Surgicals
 Industrial Machinery, IC Engine, Machine tools, Parts, Auto Components/Parts
 Hand Tools, Pumps of All Types
 Automobiles, Two wheelers, Bicycles, Ships, Planes
 Chemicals, Plastics
 Rubber, Ceramic and Glass
 Leather garments, saddlery items, footwear
 Steel furniture, Prefabs, Lighters
 Wood , Paper, Stationary
 iron, steel, and base metals, products
G. Other sectors supported under MEIS
 352 Defence related Product with export of US$ 17.7B consisting of Core Products (20), Dual Use products (60) ,General Purpose products (272).
 283 Pharmaceutical products of Bulk Drugs & Drug Intermediates, Drug Formulations Biologicals, Herbal, Surgicals, and Vaccines.
 96 lines of Environment related Goods, Machinery, Equipment’s.
 49 lines where mandatory BIS standards are prescribed.
 7 lines of Technical Textiles.
H. Participation in global value chain of the items falling under the scheme:
 1725 lines of Intermediate Goods – These goods become inputs in the manufacturing of other countries and will strengthen backward manufacturing linkages which is vital for India’s participation in Global Value Chains.
 1109 lines of Capital Goods sector- will also strengthen Manufacturing Base in India.
 1730 lines of Consumer Goods sector- We hope a quantum jump in export from this sector with strengthening of Make in India Brand in near future.
I. Technology based analysis:
 572 lines-Low skill Technology-intensive manufacturing.
 1010 lines-Medium skill Technology-intensive manufacturing.
 1309 lines-High Skill Technology-intensive manufacturing.

J. Women Centric Products supported under MEIS
(a) Women workers constitute 52% of plantation workers-203 lines of Tea Coffee, Spices, Cashew.
(b) 69% of the aggregate female employment is concentrated in the following sectors:
(i) Manufacture of other food products -Jelly Confectionery, tomato ketchup, cooked stuffed pasta, pawa, mudi and the like, gingerbread , papad, pastries and cakes.
(ii) Manufacture of wearing apparel-396 lines of Readymade Garments
(c) Sectors that have a significant proportion of female employment (more than 25%):
(i) Agricultural and animal husbandry service activities, except veterinary activities– 263 lines of basic Agriculture products.
(ii) Manufacture of footwear – 28 Footwear and Leather products.
(iii) Consumer Electronics and Electronic Components, watches and clocks -483 lines.
Annexure-2
II. Services Exports from India Scheme
(i) Served from India Scheme (SFIS) has been replaced with Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS). SEIS shall apply to `Service Providers’ located in India’ instead of `Indian Service Providers’. Thus SEIS provides for rewards to all Service providers of notified services, who are providing services from India, regardless of the constitution or profile of the service provider.
(ii) The rate of reward under SEIS would be based on net foreign exchange earned. The reward issued as duty credit scrip, would no longer be with actual user condition and will no longer be restricted to usage for specified types of goods but be freely transferable and usable for all types of goods and service tax debits on procurement of services/goods. Debits would be eligible for CENVAT credit or drawback.
(iii) The present rates of reward are 3% and 5%. The list of services and the rates of rewards would be reviewed after 30.9.2015.
Sl No
SECTORS
Admissible rate
1
BUSINESS SERVICES
A Professional services
Legal services, Accounting, auditing and bookkeeping services, Taxation services, Architectural services , Engineering services, Integrated engineering services, Urban planning and landscape architectural services, Medical and dental services, Veterinary services, Services provided by midwives, nurses, physiotherapists and paramedical personnel. 5%
B Research and development services
R&D services on natural sciences, R&D services on social sciences and humanities, Interdisciplinary R&D services 5%
C. Rental/Leasing services without operators
Relating to ships, Relating to aircraft, Relating to other transport equipment, Relating to other machinery and equipment
5%
D Other business services
Advertising services, Market research and public opinion polling services Management consulting service, Services related to management consulting, Technical testing and analysis services, Services incidental to agricultural, hunting and forestry, Services incidental to fishing, Services incidental to mining, Services 3% incidental to manufacturing, Services incidental to energy distribution, Placement and supply services of personnel, Investigation and security, Related scientific and technical consulting services, Maintenance and repair of equipment (not including maritime vessels, aircraft or other transport equipment), Building- cleaning services, Photographic services, Packaging services, Printing, publishing and Convention services
COMMUNICATION SERVICES
Audiovisual services
Motion picture and video tape production and distribution service, Motion picture projection service, Radio and television services, Radio and television transmission services, Sound recording 5%

CONSTRUCTION AND RELATED ENGINEERING SERVICES
General Construction work for building, General Construction work for Civil Engineering, Installation and assembly work , Building completion and finishing work 5%
EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (Please refer Note 1)
Primary education services, Secondary education services, Higher education services, Adult education 5%

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES Sewage services, Refuse disposal services, Sanitation and similar services 5%

HEALTH-RELATED AND SOCIAL SERVICES Hospital services, 5%

TOURISM AND TRAVEL-RELATED SERVICES
A. Hotels and Restaurants (including catering)
a. Hotel 3%
b. Restaurants (including catering) 3%

B. Travel agencies and tour operators services5%
C. Tourist guide services, 5%

RECREATIONAL, CULTURAL AND SPORTING SERVICES (other than audiovisual services)
Entertainment services (including theatre, live bands and circus services), News agency services, Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural services, Sporting and other recreational services 5%

TRANSPORT SERVICES (Please refer Note 2)
A. Maritime Transport Services
Passenger transportation*, Freight transportation* , Rental of vessels with crew *, Maintenance and repair of vessels, Pushing and towing services, Supporting services for maritime transport5%
B. Air transport services
Rental of aircraft with crew, Maintenance and repair of aircraft, Airport Operations and ground handling5%
C Road Transport Services Passenger transportation, Freight transportation, Rental of Commercial vehicles with operator, Maintenance and repair of road transport equipment, Supporting services for road transport services 5%
D. Services Auxiliary To All Modes Of Transport.Cargo-handling services, Storage and warehouse services, Freight transport agency services 5%
Note:
(1) Under education services, SEIS shall not be available on Capitation fee.
(2) *Operations from India by Indian Flag Carriers only is allowed under Maritime transport services.

Sources:- dgft.gov.in

Reduction of corporate tax rate will make India more competitive

Finance minister Arun Jaitley

“The reduction in the corporate tax rate will result in a higher level of investment and higher level of growth, he said, amid shouts of protest from the opposition benches”

Jaitley also promised a “comprehensive bankruptcy code of global standards” in the next fiscal year, a relief to creditors and an important step if India is to lower a cost of capital that is among the highest in Asia.

Dismissing criticism that the proposals in the Budget for 2015-16 are pro-corporate,”It is not that this decision (of reduction of corporate tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent in the next 4 years) is going to benefit only a particular class of people

Revenue Secretary  said the reduction in corporate tax rate will make India more competitive, and enable companies to invest more and create more jobs”.critics is that when you reduce the corporate tax rates, the promoter does not take away all money, the money remains with the company. The company is a legal person. If money remains with the company then it enables the company to invest more and create more jobs,”

Some executives said the budget lacked proposals to get Indian consumer spending, a lack of which has weighed on retailers and carmakers.

“We were expecting a strong impetus towards domestic demand creation that can lead to the growth of Indian manufacturing sector,” said Kishore Biyani, chairman of Future Group, one of India’s biggest retailers.

“Leaving the (individual) income tax slabs and rates unchanged are going to leave less money in the hands of the common man to spend on domestically produced goods and services.”

But businesses welcomed the expected introduction of GST by April 1, 2016. Indian companies have long argued for GST, saying it simplifies business planning and improves the collection of tax.

“GST… Will go a long way in streamlining tax administration and result in higher tax collection for the center and states,” said Sunil Duggal, chief executive officer of consumer goods maker Dabur India Ltd.

As per data from consultancy KPMG, there are many countries which have higher tax rates than India’s. The US has a rate of 40 percent, Japan has 35.64 percent, Argentina and Zambia have 35 percent and Venezuela and Brazil have 34 percent.

But many others, including our peers in the Brics grouping South Africa (28 percent) and China (25 percent), have lower rates. So the argument has been in favor of a lower rate, as this will drive investments in the country.

However, it is not clear whether there will be a reduction in the tax rate applicable for foreign companies which pay a 40 percent tax.

Apart from the 30 percent basic rate, domestic companies also pay a 10 percent education cases and also a 10 percent surcharge (on the tax). This renders the effective rate at 33.99 percent.

In the run up to the budget, there was an expectation that the FM may cut the cases, surcharge or the minimum alternate tax. The FM has refrained from doing anything to these elements.

Sources

Frist spot/ NDTV/INDIATIMES

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF CONSULTING ENGINEERS {FIDIC}_CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENT

CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENT

FIDIC’s selection of contracts and agreements.

FIDIC publishes conditions of contract for:

  • EPC/Turnkey Projects
  • Plant and Design Build Contract (updates Yellow Book and Orange Book
  • The Short Form
  • Construction Contract & Subcontract (updates the Red Book)
  • Works of Civil Engineering Construction (The Red Book)
  • Electrical & Mechanical Works (The Yellow Book)
  • Design-Build and Turnkey (The Orange Book)

All FIDIC contracts standard conditions of contract between a client/employer and a contractor. The consulting engineer is not a party to these contracts, but plays a role as the employer’s representative to see that the contract is properly carried out.

Additionally, FIDIC publishes a Client/Consultant Model Services Agreement (The White Book), which is the agreement often used by the client when appointing a consultant as his employer’s representative for the above contracts.

This “rainbow” of FIDIC contracts/agreements provides the major portion of the total income from publication sales to FIDIC.

FIDIC’s volunteer committees, who draft nearly all of FIDIC’s documents, are continuously drafting or revising and keeping FIDIC’s publications informative and up-to-date.

OTHER FIDIC PUBLICATIONS

Information for clients, including guides for Quality Based Selection, Tendering Procedures, Consultant Selection and Quality of Construction and other valuable documents about the use of consulting engineers.
Information for consulting engineers, with manuals and guides on topics such as Risk Management, environment, Project Sustainability Management, capacity building, transfer of technology, Quality Management, Business Integrity Management, dispute resolution techniques, insurance, law and other business issues.
FIDIC Statutes and Bylaws.

REPRESENTATION IMPACT

Equally important for FIDIC is the representation and impact of its publications. Most people first learn about the Federation by reading or using its business practice publications and its standard conditions of contract. FIDIC’s image is enhanced by its publication of quality documents.

The most pronounced example of this impact on the Federation’s impact are FIDIC’s Conditions of Contract for Works of Civil Engineering Construction (“The Red Book”, owing to its red cover), now in its fourth edition. Many people call the Red Book “FIDIC” or “the FIDIC”, mistakenly using the Federation’s acronym (taken from its original French name, Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils) for its best known publication, unaware of the Federation, but certainly aware of its Red Book.

This confusion is not surprising, when one considers that the Red Book, now replaced by the Construction Contract, has been used as the general conditions in standard bidding documents of many development banks, including the World Bank. From 2005, the multilateral development banks (MDB) agreed to a MDB-harmonised version of the Construction Contract for incorporation in their standard bidding documents.

FINANCIAL IMPACT

FIDIC’s publications fulfill an important and essential role for the well being of the Federation. Revenues from publication sales account for more then 25% of FIDIC’s income.

FIDIC’s annual income from publications has grown from about SFr. 300,000.- in the late 1980’s to nearly SFr. 1 200,000.- in 2012. This growth in publications sales has allowed FIDIC to reduce the unit rates for membership subscriptions by nearly one-half over the past decade, an important impact when one considers that more than half of FIDIC’s Member Association’s are in developing countries, many of which have weak currencies.

With FIDIC being a non-profit, self-supporting Federation, which neither seeks nor accepts financial support from any other body, the essential role played by its publications sales cannot be over emphasized.

FIDIC has long been renowned for its standard forms of contract for use between employers and contractors on international construction projects, in particular:

  • Conditions of Contract for Works of Civil Engineering Construction: The Red Book (1987)
  • Conditions of Contract for Electrical and Mechanical Works including Erection on Site: The Yellow Book (1987)
  • Conditions of Contract for Design-Build and Turnkey: The Orange Book (1995)

During its past work in updating the Red and Yellow Books, FIDIC has noted that certain projects have fallen outside the scope of the existing Books. Accordingly FIDIC has not only updated the standard forms but has expanded the range, and has – in September 1999 – published a suite of four new Standard Forms of Contract which are suitable for the great majority of construction and plant installation projects around the world.

This 1999 suite comprises:

  • Conditions of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Employer: The Construction Contract
  • Conditions of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Employer (MDB Harmonised Edition) – for bank financed projects only: The MDB Construction Contract
  • Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build for Electrical and Mechanical Plant and for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Contractor: The Plant and Design-Build Contract
  • Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects: The EPC/Turnkey Contract
  • Short Form of Contract: The Short Form
  • Dredgers Contract (based on the Short Form of Contract): Dredgers Contract

The Books in the 1999 suite are all marked “First Edition 1999” (Test Editions were published in 1998, and while these remain valid for contracts, significant changes were made in some cases)

A. Relatively small value, short construction time or involving simple or repetitive work

  • If the price for the contract is relatively small, say under US$ 500,000, or the construction time is short, say less than 6 months, or the work involved is relatively simple or repetitive – dredging work might be a good example:
    then consider using the Short Form of Contract, which is a completely new FIDIC Book specially prepared for such projects.
  • It does not matter whether the design is provided by the Employer (or his Engineer/Architect if he has one) or by the Contractor,
  • It does not matter whether the project involves construction, electrical, mechanical, or other engineering work.

B. Larger or more complex projects

1. Is the Employer (or the Engineer) going to do most of the design?
As in traditional projects, e.g., infrastructure, buildings, hydropower, etc., the Employer did nearly all the design (perhaps not construction details, reinforcement, etc.) (The Red Book),

  • and the Engineer administered the Contract, monitored the construction work and certified payment
  • and the Employer was kept fully informed, could make variations, etc.
  • and with payment according to bills of quantities or lump sums for approved work done.

If this is what is wanted – choose the Conditions of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Employer (The Construction Contract), which effectively updates and supercedes the existing Red Book from 1987.

In 2005, FIDIC licenced the Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) to use the MDB Harmonised Edition of the Construction Contract for projects funded by the banks. The MDB Construction Contract mainly incorporates Particular Conditions to the Red Book that was used by the World Bank in its Standard Bidding Documents before it and the other MDBs adopted the Harmonised Edition.

2. Is the Contractor going to do most of the design?

As in traditional projects, e.g., electrical and mechanical works, including erection on site (The Yellow Book) the Contractor (or Supplier) did the majority of the design, e.g., the detail design of the plant or equipment, so that the plant met the outline or performance specification prepared by the Employer, and in the relatively more recent design-build and turnkey type projects the Contractor also did the majority of the design, not only of plant projects but also of various infrastructure and other types of projects, and the project was required to fulfil the “Employer’s Requirements”, i.e., an outline or performance specification prepared by the Employer (The Orange Book),

  • and the Engineer (Employer’s Representative in the Orange Book) administered the Contract, monitored the manufacture and erection on site or construction work and certified payment,
  • and with payment according to achieved milestones generally on a lump sum basis.
    If this is what is wanted – choose the Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build for Electrical and Mechanical Plant and for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Contractor (Plant and Design-Build Contract) which effectively updates and supercedes both the existing Yellow Book from 1987 and the Orange Book from 1995.

3. Is it a Privately Financed (or Public/Private Financed) Project of BOT or similar type where the Concessionnaire takes total responsibility for the financing, construction and operation of the Project?

Then the Concessionnaire (the “Employer”) probably requires to have a contract with the construction Contractor, i.e., an EPC (Engineer, Procure, Construct) Contract, where the Contractor takes total responsibility for the design and construction of the infrastructure or other facility, and where there is a higher degree of certainty that the agreed contract price and time will not be exceeded,

  • and the Employer does not wish to be involved in the day-to-day progress of the work, provided the end result meets the performance criteria he has specified
  • and the parties concerned (e.g., sponsors, lenders and the Employer) are willing to see the Contractor paid more for the constructionf the Project in return for the Contractor bearing the extra risks associated with enhanced certainty of final price and time.

If this is what is wanted – choose the Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects (EPC/Turnkey Contract) – the FIDIC Book suitable for this purpose.

C. Also for the EPC/Turnkey Contract
1. Is it a Process Plant or a Power Plant (or a factory or similar) where the Employer – who provides the finance – wishes to implement the Project on a Fixed-Price Turnkey Basis?

Then the Employer wishes the Contractor to take total responsibility for the design and construction of the process or power facility and hand it over ready to operate “at the turn of a key”,

  • and the Employer wishes a higher degree of certainty that the agreed contract price and time will not be exceeded
  • and the Employer wishes – or is used to – the Project being organised on a strictly two party approach, i.e. without an “Engineer” being involved
  • and the Employer does not wish to be involved in the day-to-day progress of the construction work, provided the end result meets the performance criteria he has specified
  • and the Employer is willing to pay more for the construction of his Project (than would be the case if the Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build were used) in return for the Contractor bearing the extra risks associated with enhanced certainty of final price and time.

If this is what is wanted – choose the Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects (EPC/Turnkey Contract).

2. Is it an Infrastructure Project (e.g., road, rail link, bridge, water or sewage treatment plant, transmission line, even dam or hydropower plant) or similar where the Employer – who provides the finance – wishes to implement the Project on a Fixed-Price Turnkey Basis?

Then the Employer wishes the Contractor to take total responsibility for the design and construction of the infrastructure facility,

  • and the Employer wishes a higher degree of certainty that the agreed contract price and time will not be exceeded, except that if underground works in uncertain or difficult ground conditions are likely then the risk of unforeseen ground conditions should be borne by the Employer (and the provisions of the Plant and Design-Build Conditions in this respect – Sub-Clause 4.12 – would be appropriate),
  • and the Employer wishes – or is used to – the Project being organised on a strictly two party approach, i.e. without an “Engineer” being involved
  • and the Employer does not wish to be involved in the day-to-day progress of the construction work, provided the end result meets the performance criteria he has specified,
  • and the Employer is willing to pay more for the construction of his Project (than would be the case if the Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build were used) in return for the Contractor bearing the extra risks associated with enhanced certainty of final price and time.

If this is what is wanted – choose the Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects (EPC/Turnkey Contract).

3. Is it a Building Project where the Employer wishes to have his building(s) constructed on a Fixed-Price Turnkey Basis generally complete with all furniture, fittings and equipment?

As for 2 above

In the case of a building or building development Project, the Employer or his Architect may have done some or most of the design, but – with suitable modification regarding design responsibility – the Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects (EPCTurnkey Contract) may be chosen.

D. Reconstruction or Refurbishment or another type of Project

Check Questions A1, B1 and B2 above or Questions C1 – C3 if applicable, and make your choice accordingly.