'You can remit advance payments for imports without any ceiling'

We have an engineering unit. The supplier is asking for money in advance for import of capital goods. How much advance can we send?
You can remit advance payments for imports without any ceiling. However, if the amount is more than $200,000 your supplier should give a standby Letter of Credit or bank guarantee that the goods will be supplied. Your bank can waive the requirement of guarantee etc, and remit up to $500,000 if it is satisfied about your track record and bonafides. If you are a public sector company or a department/undertaking of a central/state government, you should obtain a waiver of bank guarantee from Finance Ministry of Central Government for advance remittance exceeding $100,000.

We are an Export Oriented Unit (EOU). We want to clear the goods to our depot in Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) and then sell from there. Can we clear the goods on the basis of depot price according to Rule 7 of the Central Excise Valuation Rules, 2000?
According to the proviso to Section 3(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, the value of goods produced or manufactured in an EOU and brought to any other place in India must be determined in terms of Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, read with Customs Valuation (Determination of Price of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007. The value will have to be determined by sequential application of Rules 3 to 9 of the said Customs Valuation Rules. The Central Excise Valuation Rules will not come into play for clearances from EOU to DTA. 

We have supplied certain goods to Special Economic Zones (SEZs). By mistake, we sent the goods without filing the Bill of Export. Will the authorities allow these exports to be counted towards discharge of export obligation against our advance authorisation?
Under advance authorisation schemer, it is essential that you file Bill of Export with the SEZ Customs so that they can examine the goods and then admit the goods into SEZ. The examination norms are prescribed to make sure of compliance with the conditions prescribed under the advance authorisation scheme. If Bill of Export is not filed, the SEZ Customs do not examine the goods. Therefore, I don't think the authorities will admit discharge of export obligation on the basis of documents other than Bill of Export, even if you approach the Policy Relaxation Committee.

Can we use duty credit scrips issued under Served From India Scheme (SFIS) to pay customs duty on import of spares and use the same spares to provide services to our customers under the service contracts/orders?
According to Para 3.12.7 of the Foreign Trade Policy that deals with SFIS scheme, entitlement/goods (imported/procured) shall be non-transferable (except within group company and managed hotels) and be subject to Actual User condition.

Therefore, you cannot transfer the ownership of the goods you import under SFIS to your customers.

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