Search

Table 2.2 WTO dispute settlement cases involving India as complainant, respondent, 2011-13 March 2015
India as respondent
- Dispute: Certain measures relating to solar cells and solar modules
- Member: United States
- Status (July 2014): Panel established 23 May 2014 and composed on 29 September 2014
- WTO document resires: WT/DS456

There are also two industries reserved for the public sector: atomic energy and railway operations (…)

Table 2.4 Sectors in which FDI is prohibited, 2014
(…)
Activities/sectors not open to private sector investment: atomic energy and railway operations (other than permitted activities in railway infrastructure (see Table A2.1))

In November 2011, the DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy Promotion based in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) also notified the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) whose overall goal is to raise the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% and create 100 million jobs over a decade or so. To implement the policy, national investment and manufacturing zones (NIMZs) have been created which provide infrastructure, land use on the basis of zoning, clean and energy efficient technology and social infrastructure and skill development facilities. The NIMZs are to be declared industrial townships with their own planning and investment clearance facilities. According to the authorities these will be different from special economic zones (SEZs) in terms of size, infrastructure, governance structures related to regulatory procedures, exit policies and fiscal incentives. The NIMZ will be much larger – a minimum of 5,000 hectares, compared to 500 hectares for a SEZ – although sector-specific NIMZs can be as small as 50 hectares; incentives for the NIMZ will include assistance with water and environment audits, easing access to finance, rationalization and simplification of business regulations, as well as for acquiring technology, compared to tax incentives provided for SEZs. The NIMZ must be declared so by the relevant State Government under the Constitution so that it can function as a self-governing and autonomous body while the SEZ operates under its own Act (SEZ Act, 2005).

In addition, India charges an Education Cess of 2% as well as a Higher Education Cess of 1% on the aggregate of customs duty on all imports. There is also a charge for the National Calamity Fund for goods falling under the Seventh Schedule, which includes (...) a Clean Energy Cess on coal, lignite and peat of Rs 200/metric tonne as of 1 March 2015 (originally introduced at Rs 50/MT in 2010/11, and raised to Rs 100/MT in 2013/14); the charge on these products is exempted from the equivalent of the additional duty payable.

Import prohibitions are mainly for health and safety reasons and include a range of products such as meat and offal of most wild animals, animal fats, and ivory and ivory powder. During the period under review, fatty liver (foie gras) (under HS02074300) was added to the list of goods subject to import prohibition (on 3 July 2014) in view of animal welfare (Table 3.8).

Table 3.8 Import prohibitions, 2014
Exim Code - Item description
0208 90 10 - Other meat and edible meat offal, fresh, chilled or frozen of wild animals
0410 00 10 - Edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included of wild animals
0504 00 31 - Guts of other animals for natural food casings of wild animals
0504 00 41 - Guts other than for natural food castings of wild animals
0504 00 51 - Bladders & stomachs of wild animals
0505 10 10 - Feathers of a kind used for stuffing; down of wild birds
0505 90 21 - Other feather (excluding for stuffing purpose): of wild birds
0505 90 31 - Powder and waste of feathers or parts of feathers: of wild birds
0505 90 91 - Skins and other parts: of wild birds
0506 10 11 - Bones, including horn-cores, crushed: of wild animals
0506 10 21 - Bone grist: of wild animals
0506 10 31 - Ossein: of wild animals
0506 10 41 - Bones, horn cones & parts thereof, not crushed: of wild animals
0506 90 11 - Bone meal of wild animals
0506 90 91 - Other: of wild animals
0507 10 10 - Ivory
0507 10 20 - Ivory powder and waste
0510 00 91 - Ambergris, castoreum, civet and musk; cantharides; bile, whether or not dried; glands of wild animals
0511 99 21 - Sinews and tendons of wildlife
0511 99 92 - Bovine embryo - of wildlife
4303 10 10 - Articles of apparel and clothing accessories of wild animals covered under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
4303 90 10 - Other articles of fur skin of wild animals covered under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
9601 10 00 - Worked ivory and articles of ivory

No definitive countervailing measure is currently in place (December 2014). During the period under review, one countervailing investigation was initiated on casting of wind operated electricity generators from China.

(…) Amendments to technical regulations are made through a similar process, from time to time, based on industry needs or due to new scientific developments, new sanitary and environmental circumstances, and harmonization with international standards.

Between 2011 and 2014, India made 11 notifications to the WTO TBT Committee. In the TBT Committee concerns were raised regarding, inter alia, food labelling requirements, toys and toy products, e-waste, electronics and information technology goods, and hazardous waste, and labelling requirements for Canola oil.