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.
When producers or exporters export goods to other countries, they most likely would have come across a trade barrier of some form or the other. While tariff walls have as such declined and non-tariff barriers have increased, importing countries continue to use trade remedial measures as a defense against imports. In fact, India and the United States are the leading users of trade remedial measures while imports from China are the major target of these trade remedial measures
Charitable entities set up for different charitable causes such as education, yoga, relief of poor, medical relief, advancement of any general public utility etc., receive a tax-exempt status under Section 10(23C) and Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘Act’). As per Section 11 of the Act, the trusts or charitable institutions are subject to following conditions to obtain tax exemption:
The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has held that arbitration cannot be invoked when the arbitration agreement or clause is contained in an unstamped or insufficiently stamped agreement or contract. According to the authors, even though this issue arises at the preliminary stage of the arbitration, the Apex Court had ordered to ensure sufficient stamping of the instruments.
The article examines a recent decision of the Delhi High Court, where the High Court has redefined the boundaries of permissible claim amendments for overcoming the objections on non-patentability especially Section 3(i) of the Patents Act, 1970, without jeopardizing the requirements of Section 59. The primary focus of this article is on the interpretation of Section 3(i) and Section 59 of the Act as provided by the High Court
The Madras High Court recently in the case of Eastman Exports Global Clothing, settled an interesting question of law pertaining to the reversal of Input Tax Credit on the loss of inputs which is inherent to the process of manufacturing. Although the judgment pertains to the treatment of manufacturing loss under Section 19(9)(iii) of the Tamil Nadu VAT Act, the principle enunciated by the Court is very helpful in determining the entitlement of ITC vis-à-vis Section 17(5)(h) of the CGST Act.
The article analyses a recent CESTAT decision relating to the threshold for considering a product within the scope of the product under consideration (‘PUC’) in anti-dumping investigations. The Hon’ble CESTAT has held that mere production of a product is not enough for it to be included in the scope of the PUC; the domestic industry must show that it has catered to a certain amount of demand for that product for it to be included. The article in this regard notes that ...
The article highlights the intricacies of TDS withholding, under the income tax provisions, which appear to impact the taxable value under GST in case of import of services. The moot question is whether the taxable value for discharging GST should be confined only to the contractual payment qua the foreign service provider or the amount of TDS, paid by the Indian service recipient as additional statutory obligation, should also be added. Analysing various Court and Tribunal decisions, the...
While the inclusion of interest amounts in ‘financial debt’, for the purposes of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, is clearly provided for, the interest component in the case of ‘operational debt’ has always been a point of contention. Pointing out that there appears to be a deliberate difference in the language used for both terms – ‘financial debt’ and ‘operational debt’, the article also discusses many specific judgments of NCLT and NCLAT, delivered on the aforesaid quandary.
Considering the changing landscape of the exemption regime, right from Finance Act, 2014 till the recent Finance Act, 2023, the article notes that the provisions relating to the exemption regimes under Sections 10(23C) and 11 of the Income Tax Act have undergone wide-ranging changes having an impact on nearly every aspect associated with the operation of charitable institutes, resulting in a situation where a mere procedural lapse can have far reaching consequences.
The article analyses two decisions of the Delhi High Court which have adjudicated patentability of the species patent with respect to the genus patent. The Court in one of the case disapproved the existence of dichotomy between ‘coverage’ and ‘disclosure’, and stated that when a product is covered in the genus patent, the specific disclosure of the same is immaterial. However, the Court in a different decision acknowledged the distinction between ‘coverage’ and ‘disclosure’ ...
The article discusses as to whether government action in the form of an export restraint on the export of a product results in a subsidy to the domestic producers of downstream products. It elaborately analysis WTO Panel report in United States - Measures treating export restraints as subsidies and the Appellate Body report in the dispute United States- Countervailing duty investigation on dynamic random-access memory semiconductors (‘DRAMS’) from Korea, and discuss how the trade authorities...
The article discusses elaborately the problems of classification and rate of GST in case of dry leasing of an aircraft. In respect of classification, the authors note that there is no specific mention of aircrafts under the Explanatory Notes to sub-heading 997311 or under the residuary entry 997319, though the Service Code 7311 of the UNCPC provides for transport equipment and specifically includes aircrafts. For rate of tax, the authors note that though it can be argued...
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