Government notifies Indirect Tax Incentives to Domestic Shipbuilding Industry

Naresh Kumar Sagar

Presently, indirect tax incentives which are available to the shipbuilding industry are exemption from basic customs duty and additional duty of customs (CVD) on all raw material and parts for manufacturing of ships/vessels/tugs and pusher craft etc, subject to the condition that such manufacturing takes place in a custom bounded warehouse under the provisions of Section 65 of the Customs Act, 1962. . Further, there is also an exemption from central excise duty on steel procured domestically for manufacturing of ships/vessels/tugs and pusher craft etc in a custom bounded warehouse under the provisions of Section 65 of the Customs Act, 1962.

The Government has decided to provide further indirect tax incentives for domestic shipbuilding industry. Accordingly, the Central Government has issued Notification Nos. 44/2015-Central Excise, 45/2015-Central Excise, 54/2015-Customs and 55/2015-Customs all dated 24th November 2015 so as to provide the following indirect tax incentives to the aforesaid industry:

· Exemption from customs and central excise duties on all raw material and parts for use in the manufacture of ships/vessels/tugs and pusher crafts etc

· Presently, certain specified ships/vessels are exempt from basic customs duty and Central Excise duty (CVD). Consequently, for such ships/vessels manufactured in Export Oriented Units (EOUs) and cleared to domestic tariff area (DTA), the EOUs are not eligible for exemption on raw materials/parts of such ships/vessels etc. Suitable amendment is being made to the relevant notifications so as to provide that EOUs will be eligible for duty exemption on raw materials/parts consumed in manufacture of such ships/vessels etc which are cleared to DTA, even if such ships/vessels are exempt from basic customs duty and Central Excise/CV duty.

· Simultaneously, the requirement of manufacturing of ships/vessels/ tugs and pusher craft etc in a custom bounded warehouse under the provisions of Section 65 of the Customs Act, 1962, for availing the customs and excise duty exemptions has also been done away with. Instead, these exemptions will now be subject to actual user conditions.