6.18

Exit from EOU Scheme

(a) With approval of DC, an EOU may opt out of scheme. Such exit shall be subject to payment of Excise and Customs duties and industrial policy in force.

(b) If unit has not achieved obligations, it shall also be liable to penalty at the time of exit.

(c) In the event of a gems and jewellery unit ceasing its operation, gold and other precious metals, alloys, gems and other materials available for manufacture of jewellery, shall be handed over to an agency nominated by DoC, at price to be determined by that agency.

(d) An EOU / EHTP / STP / BTP unit may also be permitted by DC to exit from the scheme at any time on payment of duty on capital goods under the prevailing EPCG Scheme for DTA Units. This will be subject to fulfillment of positive NFE criteria under EOU scheme, eligibility criteria under EPCG scheme and standard conditions indicated in HBP v 1.

(e) Unit proposing to exit out of EOU scheme shall intimate DC and Customs and Central Excise authorities in writing. Unit shall assess duty liability arising out of debonding and submit details of such assessment to Customs and Central Excise authorities. Customs and Central Excise authorities shall confirm duty liabilities on priority basis, subject to the condition that the unit has achieved positive NFE, taking into consideration the depreciation allowed. After payment of duty and clearance of all dues, unit shall obtain “No Dues Certificate” from Customs and Central Excise authorities. On the basis of “No Dues Certificate” so issued by the Customs and Central Excise authorities, unit shall apply to DC for final debonding.

In case there is no proceeding pending under FT(D&R) Act, DC shall issue final debonding order within a period of 7 working days. Between “No Dues Certificate” issued by Customs and Central Excise authorities and final debonding order by DC, unit shall not be entitled to claim any exemption for procurement of capital goods or inputs. However, unit can claim Advance Authorisation / DEPB / Duty Drawback. Since the duty calculations and dues are disputed and take a long time, a BG / Bond / Installment processes backed by BG shall be provided for expediting the exit process.

(f) In cases where a unit is initially established as DTA unit with machines procured from abroad after payment of applicable import duty, or from domestic market after payment of excise duty, and unit is subsequently converted to EOU, in such cases removal of such capital goods to DTA after debonding would be without payment of duty. Similarly, in cases where a DTA unit imported capital goods under EPCG Scheme and after completely fulfilling export obligation gets converted into EOU, unit would not be charged customs duty on capital goods at the time of removal of such capital goods in DTA when debonding.

(g) An EOU / EHTP / STP / BTP unit may also be permitted by DC to exit under Advance Authorization as a one time option. This will be subject to fulfillment of positive NFE criteria.