The Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) on 12 June 2026, notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026 (‘Amendment Rules’), amending the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 (‘NDI Rules’). The Amendment Rules constitute the third amendment in the FEMA liberalisation cycle for the year 2026, following the first and second amendments, which respectively relaxed restrictions on investments from countries sharing a land border with India and liberalised foreign investment in the insurance sector opening the sector up till 100% under automatic route. The third amendment is yet another attempt to widen the gate for the Indian economy. For years, access to India's listed securities market was reserved specially for a defined class amongst which are foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and non-resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas citizens of India (OCIs), this time the liberalisation is into the Indian capital markets.
The 2026 Steel import Regulation of the European Union (EU) (‘2026 Regulation’),[1] which came into force on 1 July 2026, is not simply a continuation of earlier Steel Safeguard measures[2] applicable since 2018, but it indicates a decisive shift in the EU’s approach to regulate its steel imports in the coming years. With lowering of tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), higher out-of-quota duties and proposal for stricter origin requirements, the 2026 Regulation goes beyond the WTO’s temporary safeguard regime to a more permanent industrial policy governing steel imports into the EU. In particular, the 2026 Regulation reduces the EU's tariff-free steel quota by ~47%, doubles the out-of-quota duty from 25% to 50%, and introduces a new ‘melt and pour’ traceability requirement.
Various State Benches of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (‘GSTAT’) have recently become operational, and questions relating to jurisdiction between the Principal Bench and the State Benches have begun to arise in practice. While Section 109 of the CGST Act specifies certain categories of cases to be dealt with exclusively by the Principal Bench, early orders of the Principal Bench indicate that jurisdictional issues are not always straightforward.
The article discusses a recent decision of the Delhi High Court which has upheld the refusal of a patent by extending the therapeutic efficacy requirement to intermediates.
Employees Stock Option is a scheme under which options are granted to the directors, officers or employees of a company or of its holding company or subsidiary company or companies, giving them the benefit or right to purchase, or to subscribe for, the shares of the company at a future date at a pre-determined price. The article discusses the share-based benefits and Forex compliances of this scheme.
The article highlights the retroactive impact of the amendment relating to export refunds, in the light of recent High Court decisions. The authors note that while GST Council has simplified the export refund process for the future from 2024, the amendment was not made retrospective by the legislature, and hence creating problems.
The article discusses the compliances and filing of annual RoDTEP return under RoDTEP schemes. The scheme is beneficial for exporters which require them to indicate in their shipping bills that they intend to claim the benefit under the said scheme. Such benefit would be granted to the eligible exporters at a notified rate as a percentage of FOB value as mentioned in Appendix 4R of FTP 2023.
The Hon’ble Finance Minister, in her Union Budget 2024-25 speech on 23 July 2024, reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan by proposing key policy measures to promote self-reliance in the critical minerals sector. The article discusses the strategic importance of minerals such as lithium, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements in various sectors.
The article discusses the recent decision of the Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh High Court in the case of J&K Cement Corporation v. Union of India that has led to opening of a pandora’s box regarding the value addition to be adopted for computation of the refund amount under the BSS.
The article focuses on how the new draft Guidelines propose to determine whether or not a claimed invention is excluded as an ‘algorithm’ under Section 3(k) of the Patents Act.
While agricultural operations have been modernised, the law for claiming income-tax exemption for agricultural operations has remained constant. The article focuses on various aspects of the textbook provisions, their implications on the modern agriculture and the take of Indian judiciary on the same.
This article provides a summary of some of the most significant court rulings and current legal disputes across major jurisdictions involving both textual and visual works, where Courts have dealt with the effects of AI-generated content in the context of copyright protection and infringement.
The article discusses at length the Machinery and Electrical Equipment Safety (Omnibus Technical Regulation) Order, 2024, implementation of which was recently extended by one year to 1 September 2026. Identifying the key concerns, the authors also highlight what companies should do.
The article discusses the impact of recent Sikkim High Court decision on grant of refund of unutilised ITC in case of closure of business. It emphasizes the impact of this ruling on business decisions of scaling down the business operations along with the soundness of the decision.
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