20. Substituted by the Finance Act, 2000, w.e.f. 1-4-2001. Prior to its substitution, section 10B, as inserted by the Finance Act, 1988, w.e.f. 1-4-1989 and later on amended by the Finance Act, 1993, w.r.e.f. 1-4-1991, Finance Act, 1994, w.e.f. 1-4-1994/1-4-1995, Income-tax (Second Amendment) Act, 1998, w.e.f. 1-4-1999 and Finance Act, 1999, w.e.f. 1-4-2000, read as under :

‘10B. Special provision in respect of newly established hundred per cent export-oriented undertakings.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any profits and gains derived by an assessee from a hundred per cent export-oriented undertaking (hereafter in this section referred to as the undertaking) to which this section applies shall not be included in the total income of the assessee.

(2) This section applies to any undertaking which fulfils all the following conditions, namely :—

(i) it manufactures or produces any article or thing;

(ia) in relation to an undertaking which begins to manufacture or produce any article or thing on or after the 1st day of April, 1994, its exports of such articles and things are not less than seventy-five per cent of the total sales thereof during the previous year;

(ii) it is not formed by the splitting up, or the reconstruction, of a business already in existence :

Provided that this condition shall not apply in respect of any undertaking which is formed as a result of the re-establishment, reconstruction or revival by the assessee of the business of any such industrial undertaking as is referred to in section 33B, in the circumstances and within the period specified in that section;

(iii) it is not formed by the transfer to a new business of machinery or plant previously used for any purpose.

Explanation.—The provisions of Explanation 1 and Explanation 2 to sub-section (2) of section 80-I shall apply for the purposes of clause (iii) of this sub-section as they apply for the purposes of clause (ii) of that sub-section.

(3) The profits and gains referred to in sub-section (1) shall not be included in the total income of the assessee in respect of any ten consecutive assessment years, beginning with the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which the undertaking begins to manufacture or produce articles or things.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, in computing the total income of the assessee of the previous year relevant to the assessment year immediately succeeding the last of the relevant assessment years, or of any previous year relevant to any subsequent assessment year,—

(i) section 32, section 32A, section 33 and clause (ix) of sub-section (1) of section 36 shall apply as if every allowance or deduction referred to therein and relating to or allowable for any of the relevant assessment years, in relation to any building, machinery, plant or furniture used for the purposes of the business of the undertaking in the previous year relevant to such assessment year or any expenditure incurred for the purposes of such business in such previous year had been given full effect to for that assessment year itself and accordingly sub-section (2) of section 32, clause (ii) of sub-section (3) of section 32A, clause (ii) of sub-section (2) of section 33 or the second proviso to clause (ix) of sub-section (1) of section 36, as the case may be, shall not apply in relation to any such allowance or deduction;

(ii) no loss referred to in sub-section (1) of section 72 or sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) of section 74, in so far as such loss relates to the business of the undertaking, shall be carried forward or set off where such loss relates to any of the relevant assessment years;

(iii) no deduction shall be allowed under section 80HH or section 80HHA or section 80-I or section 80-IA or section 80-IB in relation to the profits and gains of the undertaking; and

(iv) in computing the depreciation allowance under section 32, the written down value of any asset used for the purposes of the business of the undertaking shall be computed as if the assessee had claimed and been actually allowed the deduction in respect of depreciation for each of the relevant assessment years.

(5) Where the undertaking has begun to manufacture or produce articles or things in any previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing before the 1st day of April, 1989, the assessee may, at his option, before the due date for furnishing the return of his income under sub-section (1) of section 139 for the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1989, furnish to the Assessing Officer a declaration in writing that the provisions of sub-section (1) may be made applicable to him for any five consecutive assessment years falling within a period of eight years beginning with the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1989, and if he does so, then, the provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply to him for each of such assessment years and the provisions of sub-section (4) shall also apply in computing the total income of the assessee for the assessment year immediately succeeding the last of such assessment years and any subsequent assessment year.

(6) The provisions of sub-section (8) and sub-section (9) of section 80-I shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to the undertaking referred to in this section as they apply for the purposes of the industrial undertaking referred to in section 80-I.

(7) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, where the assessee, before the due date for furnishing the return of his income under sub-section (1) of section 139, furnishes to the Assessing Officer a declaration in writing that the provisions of this section may not be made applicable to him, the provisions of this section shall not apply to him for any of the relevant assessment years.

Explanation.— For the purposes of this section,—

(i) “hundred per cent export-oriented undertaking” means an undertaking which has been approved as a hundred per cent export-oriented undertaking by the Board appointed in this behalf by the Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred by section 14 of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 (65 of 1951), and the rules made under that Act;

(ii) “relevant assessment years” means the ten consecutive assessment years referred to in sub-section (3);

(iii) “manufacture” includes any—

(a) process, or

(b) assembling, or

(c) recording of programmes on any disc, tape, perforated media or other information storage device;

(iv) “produce”, in relation to any article or thing referred to in clause (i) of sub-section (2) includes production of computer programmes.’