96/1993 DATE 02/03/1993

The notification exempts specified goods imported for the manufacture and the development of electronics hardware etc. in an integrated manner by EHTP Units under the 100% EOU Scheme.

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts goods specified in the Table below (hereinafter referred to as the `goods') when imported into India or procured from a Public Warehouse or a Private Warehouse appointed or licensed, as the case may be, under section 57 or section 58 of the said Customs Act, for the purpose of development of electronics hardware, or electronics hardware and software in an integrated manner, by the Electronics Hardware Technology Park units under the 100 per cent export-oriented scheme, approved in this behalf by the Inter-Ministerial Standing Committee (hereinafter referred to as the `Committee') appointed by notification of the Government of India in the Department of Industrial Development S.O. No. 117 (E) dated the 22nd February, 1993 (as amended), from the whole of the duty of customs leviable thereon under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) and the additional duty, if any, leviable thereon under section 3 of the second mentioned Act, subject to the following conditions, namely :-

    1. the importer has been granted necessary approval by the Committee for the import of goods for the said purposes;

    2. the importer carries out the manufacture or development or both of the electronics hardware or software under customs bond and subject to such other conditions, as may be specified by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs, in this behalf;

    3. the importer exports out of India hundred per cent, or such other percentage, as may be fixed by the Committee, of electronics hardware or software manufactured wholly or partly from the goods for the period stipulated by the Committee or such extended period, as may be specified by the Committee;

    Provided that all such exports are made against freely convertible foreign currency;

    4. Omitted;

    5. the importer agrees, -

      a) to bring the goods into the unit and use them within the unit in connection with the manufacture or development or both of electronics hardware or software for export,

      b) not to move the goods from the unit without the approval of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs;

      c) to export out of India all electronics hardware or software manufactured in the unit;
    6. the importer shall produce a certificate to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs from the designated officer, to the effect that the goods imported are to be installed or used in the unit and that the import of such goods has been authorised by the Committee;

    7. Without prejudice to any other provisions contained in this notification, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, subject to such conditions and limitations as he may deem fit to impose under the circumstances of the case for the proper safeguard of the revenue interest and also subject to such permission of the designated officer or the Committee where it is exclusively required under Export and Import Policy, allow the said unit to clear any of the said goods for being taken to any other place in India in accordance with the Export and Import Policy, -

      a) such clearance of capital goods, material handling equipments, office equipments and captive power plants may be allowed on payment of an amount equal to the customs duty leviable on such goods on the depreciated value thereof and at the rate in force on the date of payment of such duty;

      b) such clearance of goods (including containers, suitable for repeated use) other than those specified in clause (a) may be allowed on payment of customs duty on the value at the time of import and at rates in force on the date of payment of such customs duty;

      c) such clearance of used packing materials such as cardboard boxes, polyethylene bags of a kind unsuitable for repeated use may be allowed without payment of any customs duty;

    Provided that the importer shall not be eligible to avail of the exemption applicable to goods falling under heading 98.01 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), or the exemption available to goods imported under any Export Promotion scheme other than the Export Promotion Capital Goods scheme permitting import of capital goods at the rate of duty of 5% ad valorem in terms of notifications in force at the time of debonding.
 
EXPLANATION. -
The depreciation in respect of goods covered by clause (a) above shall be allowed for the period from the date of commencement of commercial production of the unit or where such goods have been imported after such commencement from the date such goods have come into use for commercial production upto the date of payment of duty.
8. the importer executes a bond in such form and for such sum and with such authority, as may be prescribed by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs, binding himself to fulfil the export obligations and conditions under this notification, conditions under the Export and Import Policy and to pay on demand an amount equal to the duty leviable on the goods and interest at the rate of twenty per cent per annum on the said duty from the date of important or procurement of the said goods till the date of payment of such duty, if-

    (i) in the case of capital goods, such goods are not proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs to have been installed or otherwise used within the bonded premises or re-exported within a period of one year from the date of importation or procurement thereof or within such extended period not exceeding five years as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not using them as above within the said period, allow;

    (ii) in the case of goods other than capital goods, such goods are not proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner to Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs to have been used in connection with the production or packing of goods for export out of India or re-exported within a period of one year from the date of importation or procurement thereof or within such extended period as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not using them as above within the said period, allow;

    (iii) in the case of

      (a) goods produced or packaged, such goods have not been exported out of India, and-

      (b) unused goods (including containers suitable for repeated use) as have not been exported, within a period of one year from the date of importation, or procurement of such goods or within such extended period as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not exporting such goods within the period, allow;
    (iv) in the case of raw materials components, spares and consumables (other than capital goods) imported or procured duty free, the unit fails to achieve Net Foreign Exchange Earning as a percentage of Exports (NFEP) and Export performance (EP) as specified in Appendix-1 of the said Export and Import Policy, with one year of importation or procurement of such goods or within such extended period, not exceeding one year, as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause, allow:

    Provided that the Commissioner of Customs may extend the period for achievement of Net Foreign Exchange as a Percentage of Exports (NFEP) or Export Performance (EP) for further period not exceeding five years from the date of importation or procurement;".

9. Omitted;

10. the procedure, as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Customs, is followed by such unit;

11. The Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, subject to such conditions and limitations as may be stipulated in the Export and Import Policy and those as may be specified by him in this behalf permit the goods imported or procured by the unit or goods partially processed or manufactured or packaged therefrom to be taken outside the unit without payment of duty for the purposes of test, repairs, refining, processing, display, jobwork or any other process necessary for manufacture of final products and to be returned to the said unit thereafter or remove the same without payment of duty under bond for export from the jobworker's premises:

Provided that the waste or scrap or remnants generated during such processed at the jobworker's premises is either returned to the unit or is cleared on payment of duty as if the said waste or scrap or remnants have been cleared by the said unit;";

11A. the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may permit to remove moulds, jigs, tools. fixtures, tackles, instruments, hanges and patterns and drawings to the premises of sub-contractors subjects to the condition that these goods shall be brought back to the bonded premises of Electronics Hardware Technology Park unit on completion of the job work, within a stipulated period;

12.The Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may allow the supply or transfer of goods imported by a unit or electronic hardware or software manufactured by such a unit to any other hundred per cent export oriented undertaking or to a unit in the Free Trade Zone / Export Processing Zone for the purposes of manufacture and export or for use within the said unit as per procedure specified by him in this regard and necessary permission granted by the Committee;


13. The Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs ay, subject to such conditions as he may deem fit to impose under the circumstances of the case for the proper safeguard of the revenue interest, allow a unit to re-export goods


14. Omitted;

15. notwithstanding anything contained in this notification, the exemption contained herein shall also apply to,-
    (a) goods which on importation into India are used for the manufacture or development of electronics hardware or software within the unit and such hardware or software (including rejects, waste and scrap material arising in the course of manufacture and development of such hardware or software), even if not exported out of India, are allowed to be sold in India, under and in accordance with the Export and Import Policy and in such quantity and subject to such limitations and conditions as may be specified in this behalf by the Committee, on payment of duty of excise leviable thereon under section 3 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) or where such hardware or software (including rejects, waste and scrap material arising in the course of manufacture and development of such hardware or software) are not excisable, custom duty equal in amount to that leviable on the inputs obtained under this notification and used for the purpose of manufacture or development of such hardware or software (including rejects, waste and scrap material arising in the course of manufacture and development of such electronic hardware or software), which would have been paid, but for the exemption under this notification, shall be payable at the time of clearance of such electronic hardware or software (including rejects, waste and scrap material arising in the course of manufacture and development of such hardware or software).


    (b) spares and consumables other than those specified in the Table, to the extent of 1.5% of the ex-factory value of manufacture of articles for export out of India by the unit during the preceding year or such percentage in excess thereof as the Central Government may, in each individual case, allow having regard to the recommendations made to it in this behalf by the Committee for the purpose of supply of such spares and consumables with the export articles for after-sale service, subject to the condition that such supply is specifically stipulated in the relevant export contract and the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs is satisfied that the value of such spares and consumables have been included for arriving at the value addition as required under the said Export and Import Policy :

    Provided that sale of software within India shall not be allowed through data communication link or telecommunication link subject to such conditions as may be specified by the Commissioner of Customs.

    (c) goods which on importation or procurement are used for the manufacture or development of Electronics Hardware or Software, within the unit and such hardware or software even if not exported out of India, are allowed to be cleared to the warehouses appointed or registered under notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance number 26/98-Central Excise (NT), dated the 15th July, 1998 or cleared to the warehouses authorised to carry out manufacturing process or other operations under section 65 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) and under the Manufacture and other operations under section 65 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) and under the Manufacture and Other Operations in Warehouse Regulations, 1966 or cleared" shall be substituted. to the license holders referred to in clause (e) of paragraph 9.10 of the Export and Import Policy, without payment of duty;

16. Subject to the satisfaction of Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs, duty shall not be leviable in respect of -

    (i) the said goods used for importing training to workers,

    (ii) the said goods or goods manufactured, produced, processed or packaged in the unit if such goods are destroyed within the unit.

    (iii) the scrap or waste material or remnants (arising in the course of such production, manufacture, processing or packaging) if such scrap or raw material or remnants are destroyed within the unit".

    (iv) the capital goods, if such capital goods are destroyed within the unit or outside the said unit, where it is not possible or permissible to destroy the same within the said unit, in the presence of custom officer

17. The Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, subject to such conditions or limitations as may be specified by him in this behalf, and subject to approval of the Inter-Ministerial Standing Committee, permit the goods imported or procured by the unit or goods partially processed or manufactured or packaged therefrom to be taken out of India for the purpose of processing if such processing is not available in India, without payment of duty, and to be returned to the said unit thereafter.

EXPLANATION. -
For the purposes of this notification,-

    (a) "designated officer' means an officer designated by the Department of Electronics in pursuance of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Commerce No. 42(N-8)/92-97, dated the 14th September, 1992;

    (b) "Export and Import Policy" means the Export and Import Policy 1 April, 1997 - 31 March, 2002 published by the Government of India under Ministry of Commerce Notification No. 1/1997-2002, dated 31st March, 1997, as amended from time to time.

THE TABLE

Sl.No. Description of Goods
(1) (2)
1. Capital goods
2. Raw materials
3. Components
4. Spares and accessories of capital goods
5. Material handling equipment, namely, forlifts, over- head cranes, mobile cranes, crawler cranes, hoists and stackers.
5A. Uninterrupted power supply system (UPS), pollution control equipment quality assurance equipment, storage systems, special racks for storage, modular furniture, computer furniture, anti-static carpet, tele-conference equipment, servo control system, security systems, panels for electricals and air-conditioners.
5B. Spares and consumables for goods specified at serial number 5A above.
6. Consumables required for the manufacture of goods.
7. Sample / proto-types of electronics hardware/software covered by manufacturing activity.
8. Drawing, blue prints, technical maps, charts, relating to the manufacturing activity.
9. Packaging materials.
10. Office equipment, including PABX, fax machine video projection system, spares and consumables thereof
11. Tools, jigs, gauges, fixtures, moulds, dies, instruments and accessories.
12. Captive power plants including captive generating sets and transformers as recommended by the Designated Officer
12A. Omitted
12B. Spares, fuels, lubricants, consumables and accessories for captive power plants and captive generating sets and spares, consumables and accessories for transformers as approved by Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs.
13. Goods re-imported within three years of the date of exportation for repairs or re-conditioning or re- engineering.
14. Goods re-imported within one year from the date of exportation from the unit due to failure of the foreign buyer to take delivery.
15. Goods imported for repairs reconditioning, testing calibration, quality improvement, upgradation of technology and re-engineering activities and export thereof within three years of the date of importation.
16. Raw materials for making capital goods for use within the unit for the purpose of production or manufacture of export goods.
17. Any other item required in relation to production of export goods with the prior approval of Inter-Ministerial Standing Committee.