General:
CENVAT rate:
1) Education Cess levied on all excisable goods as a duty of excise under section 91 read with section 93 of the Finance Act, 2004 is being fully exempted. In this regard, notification No.14/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 refers. Similarly, Secondary & Higher Education Cess leviable on excisable goods as a duty of excise under section 136 read with 138 of the Finance Act, 2007 is also being fully exempted. In this regard, notification No.15/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 refers.
2) Simultaneously, the standard ad valorem rate of duty of excise (i.e. CENVAT) is being increased from 12% to 12.5%. Specific rates of Basic Excise Duty on petrol, diesel, cement, cigarettes & other tobacco products (other than biris) are also being suitably changed. In this regard, the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 as amended by Clause 104 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. These changes will come into force with immediate effect owing to a declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931. Also, see S.Nos.42, 43, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 90, 107, 205A, 244, 273, 278, 279, 281, 285, 286, 287, 288 and 289 of notification No.12/2012-Central Excise, dated 17th March, 2012 as amended by notification No.12/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 refers.
3) Other Basic Excise Duty rates (ad valorem as well as specific) with a few exceptions are not being changed.
4) Notifications No.13/2012-Customs and No.14/2012-Customs both dated 17th March, 2012 exempt Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess leviable as CVD on imported goods. Since Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess leviable on excisable goods are being exempted in general, there will be no corresponding levy as CVD on imported goods. Hence, these notifications are being rescinded. In this regard, notification No.9/2015-Customs dated 1st March, 2015 refers.
5) S.No.1A and 1B of notification No.23/2003-Central Excise, dated 31.03.2003 exempt the Customs component of Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess. Since Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess leviable on excisable goods are being fully exempted, there will be no levy of these Cesses either on CVD while calculating the aggregate of the duties of customs or on excise duty leviable under the proviso to section 3 of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Therefore, the entries S.No.1A and 1B are being omitted. Also, the entries at S.No.5A, 6 and 7A are being amended so as to substitute the rate of 12% with 12.5%. Notification No.16/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 refers.
6) Notifications No.28/2010-Central Excise and No.29/2010-Central Excise, both dated 22nd June, 2010 exempt the levy of Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess on the clean energy cess leviable on coal. Since Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess are being exempted on excisable goods in general, notifications No.28/2010-Central Excise and No.29/2010-Central Excise, both dated 22nd June, 2010 are being rescinded. Notification No.17/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 refers.
7) The rate of excise duty applicable to goods covered by the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations Act, 1955 is being increased from 12% to 12.5% ad valorem. In this regard, notification No.1/2015-M&TP dated 1st March, 2015 refers.
8) There is no change in Education Cess leviable on imported goods under section 91 read with section 94 of the Finance Act, 2004 as a duty of customs and Secondary & Higher Education Cess leviable on imported goods under section 136 read with 139 of the Finance Act, 2007 as a duty of customs. These Cesses shall continue to be levied on imported goods.
Chapter 1 to 3: No change.
Chapter 4:
1) Excise duty of 2% without CENVAT credit or 6% with CENVAT credit is being levied on condensed milk [0402 91 10 and 0402 99 20] put up in unit containers. Notification No.1/2011-Central Excise, dated 1st March, 2011 as amended by notification No.7/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 [new S.No.1A] and notification No.2/2011-Central Excise, dated 1st March, 2011 as amended by notification No.8/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 [new S.No.1A] refer. Condensed milk [0402 91 10 and 0402 99 20] is also being notified under section 4A of the Central Excise Act for the purpose of valuation with reference to the Retail Sale Price, with an abatement of 30%. Notification No.49/2008-Central Excise (N.T.), dated 21.12.2008 as amended by notification No.3/2015-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 1st March, 2015 [new S.No.1A] refers. Condensed milk, other than put up in unit containers will continue to be exempt from excise duty. S.No.1 of notification No.12/2012-Central Excise, dated 17th March, 2012, as amended by notification No.12/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 refers.
Chapter 5 to 19: No change.
Chapter 20:
1) Excise duty of 2% without CENVAT credit or 6% with CENVAT credit is being levied on peanut butter [2008 11 00]. S.No.14 of notification No.1/2011-Central Excise, dated 1st March, 2011 and S.No.13A of notification No.12/2012-Central Excise, dated 17th March, 2012 as omitted by notification No.12/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 refer.
Chapter 21:
1) All goods falling under Chapter sub-heading 2101 20, including iced tea, are being notified under section 4A of the Central Excise Act for the purpose of assessment of Central Excise duty with reference to the Retail Sale Price with an abatement of 30%. Notification No.49/2008-Central Excise (N.T.), dated 21.12.2008 as amended by notification No.3/2015-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 1st March, 2015 [new S.No.16A] refers. The Third Schedule to the Central Excise Act, 1944 is also being amended so as to include therein all goods falling under Chapter sub-heading 2101 20, including iced tea. Clause 103 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. By virtue of declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, these changes will come into force with immediate effect.
Chapter 22:
1) All goods falling under heading 2202 [other than mineral waters and aerated waters which attract abatement of 45% and 40% respectively] are being notified under section 4A of the Central Excise Act for the purpose of assessment of Central Excise duty with reference to the Retail Sale Price with an abatement of 35%. Notification No.49/2008-Central Excise (N.T.), dated 21.12.2008 as amended by notification No.3/2015-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 1st March, 2015 [newly inserted S.No.25A and omitted S.No.121, 122, 123 and 124] refer. The Third Schedule to the Central Excise Act, 1944 is also being amended so as to include therein all goods falling under Chapter heading 2202. Clause 103 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. By virtue of declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, these changes will come into force with immediate effect.
2) Excise duty on “waters, including mineral waters and aerated waters, containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured” falling under Chapter sub-heading 2202 10 is being increased from 12% to 18%. Clause 104 of the Finance Bill refers. By virtue of declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, this increase will come into force with immediate effect. Simultaneously, the entry in the Seventh Schedule to the Finance Act, 2005 relating to levy of additional duty of excise @ 5% on these goods is being omitted. Clause 184 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. Notification No.6/2005-Central Excise, dated 1st March, 2005 as amended by notification No.9/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 [new S.No.1A] prescribes Nil rate of additional duty of excise on such goods till the enactment of the Finance Bill, 2015.
Chapter 24:
1) Basic Excise Duty rate on cigarettes and other products of tariff heading 2402 is being increased. Clause 104 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. By virtue of declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, these changes will come into force with immediate effect. There is no change in NCCD leviable under Seventh Schedule to the Finance Act, 2001 and Additional Duty (health cess) under Seventh Schedule to the Finance Act, 2005. The changes in basic excise duty rates on cigarettes are summarized below.
| Tariff Item | Description (length in mm) | BED Rs. per 1000 sticks (Existing Rate) | BED Rs. per 1000 sticks (New Rate) |
| 24022010 | Non filter not exceeding 65 | 990 | 1280 |
| 24022020 | Non-filter exceeding 65 but not exceeding 70 | 1995 | 2335 |
| 24022030 | Filter not exceeding 65 | 990 | 1280 |
| 24022040 | Filter exceeding 65 but not exceeding 70 | 1490 | 1740 |
| 24022050 | Filter exceeding 70 but not exceeding 75 | 1995 | 2335 |
| 24022090 | Other | 2875 | 3375 |
2) Excise duty on cut tobacco is being increased from Rs.60 per kg to Rs.70 per kg. Clause 104 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. By virtue of declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, the increase will come into force with immediate effect.
3) Maximum speed of packing machine for packages of notified goods of various retail sale prices is being specified as a factor relevant to production for determining excise duty payable under the Compounded Levy Scheme presently applicable to pan masala, gutkha and chewing tobacco. In this regard, section 3A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 is being amended to insert an Explanation so as enable the Central Government to specify more than one factor relevant to production. Clause 90 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. By virtue of declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, this amendment will come into force with immediate effect. Accordingly, deemed production and duty payable per machine per month are being notified with reference to the speed range in which the maximum speed of a packing machine for packages of various retail sale prices falls. Consequential amendments are being carried in the Pan Masala Packing machines (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Rules, 2008 and Chewing Tobacco and Unmanufactured Tobacco Packing Machines (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Rules, 2010. Rule 6(vii) of the said Rules provide that the manufacturer in the prescribed Form 1 shall declare the maximum packing speed at which the packing machine can be operated for packing of pouches of notified goods of various retail sale prices. A proviso is being inserted in sub-rule (3) of rule 6 of the said Rules so as to enable the AC / DC, as the case may be, to re-determine the annual capacity of production within 3 working days of the coming into force of the Packing machines (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Amendment Rules, 2015 and Chewing Tobacco and Unmanufactured Tobacco Packing Machines (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Amendment Rules, 2015. In this regard, notification No.42/2008-Central Excise dated 1st July 2008 as amended by notification No.6/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 and notification No.30/2008-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 1st July, 2008 as amended by notification No.5/2015-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 1st March, 2015 in respect of Pan Masala and Gutkha refer. Notification No.16/2010-Central Excise dated 27th February, 2010 as amended by notification No.5/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 and notification No.11/2010-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 27th February, 2010 as amended by notification No.4/2015-Central Excise (N.T.) dated 1st March, 2015 in respect of Chewing tobacco, unmanufactured tobacco, jarda scented tobacco and filter khaini refer.
Chapter 25:
1) Tariff rate of excise duty on goods falling under Chapter sub-heading 2523 29 is being increased from Rs.900 per tonne to Rs.1000 per tonne. Clause 104 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. By virtue of declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, the increase will come into force with immediate effect. The effective rates of goods falling under Chapter sub-heading 2523 29 are specified vide S.Nos.51 and 52 of notification No.12/2012-Central Excise dated 17th March, 2012, as amended by notification No.12/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015.
Chapter 26: No change.
Chapter 27:
1) Tariff rate of excise duty on high speed diesel (HSD) falling under tariff item 2710 19 30 is being increased from 14% + Rs.5 per litre to 14% + Rs.15 per litre. However, there is no change in the aggregate of various duties of excise on high speed diesel (HSD). Clause 104 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers.
2) The Second Schedule to the Finance (No.2) Act, 1998 is being amended so as to increase the Schedule rate of Additional Duty of Excise and Additional Duty of Customs (commonly known as Road Cess) on Motor Spirit commonly known as Petrol from Rs.2 per litre to Rs.8 per litre. Clause 163 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. The Second Schedule to the Finance Act, 1999 is being amended so as to increase the Schedule rate of Additional Duty of Excise and Additional Duty of Customs (commonly known as Road Cess) on High Speed Diesel oil from Rs.2 per litre to Rs.8 per litre. Clause 164 of the Finance Bill, 2015 refers. Increase in Schedule rate of Additional Duty will come into effect immediately owing to a declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931. However, the effective rates of the Additional Duty of Excise (commonly known as Road Cess) levied on Petrol and High Speed Diesel Oil are being increased from Rs.2 per litre to Rs.6 per litre only. Notification No.6/2015-Customs and No.7/2015-Customs, both dated 1st March, 2015 and notification No.10/2015-Central Excise and No.11/2015-Central Excise, both dated 1st March, 2015 refer. Simultaneously, the Basic Excise Duty rates on petrol (both branded and unbranded) and diesel (both branded and unbranded) are being reduced by Rs.4 per litre. Further, Education Cess and Secondary and Higher Education Cess, presently applicable to petroleum products, including petrol and High Speed Diesel, are being exempted. On this count, rates of duty of excise (CENVAT) on Petrol and High Speed Diesel Oil (both branded and unbranded) are also being revised. In this regard, S.Nos.70 and 71 of notification No.12/2012-Central Excise dated 17th March, 2012 as amended by notification No.12/2015-Central Excise dated 1st March, 2015 refer. Table below summarizes the changes in various duties applicable to petrol and diesel:
| Duty rates applicable prior upto 28.02.02105 | Duty rates applicable with effect from 01.03.2015 |
| CENVAT Rs. / Litre | SAED Rs. / Litre | AED Rs. / Litre | Education Cesses (as % of aggregate of duties of excise) | Total Rs. / Litre | CENVAT | SAED | AED | Education Cesses | Total | |
| Unbranded petrol |
|
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