Notification No. 14/2015 [F.No.203/31/2014/ITA.II]

Section 35CCC of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Expenditure on Agricultural Extension Project - Notified Eligible Agricultural Extension Project - Godrej Agrovet Limited - OIL Palm Extension Project

What this is

Notification No. 14/2015 [F.No.203/31/2014/ITA.II] was published on 16 February 2015. Its subject is Section 35CCC of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Expenditure on Agricultural Extension Project - Notified Eligible Agricultural Extension Project - Godrej Agrovet Limited - OIL Palm Extension Project.

What it does

The notification, in Form No. 3CP, notifies the 'Oil Palm Extension Project' of Godrej Agrovet Limited, Mumbai (PAN AAACG0617Q) as an eligible agricultural extension project under section 35CCC. The purpose is stated as training farmers in cultivation of the oil palm crop, the project is ongoing, and the approval is effective from the date of issue of the formal notification and runs till assessment year 2016-17. The applicant had claimed expenses of Rs. 8,53,00,000 for each of the assessment years 2014-15 and 2015-16; the form records that as approval is accorded from a later date in financial year 2014-15 the expenditure for the relevant period would be much less, that no claim under section 35CCC shall be allowed for financial year 2013-14, and that the likely expenditure for assessment year 2016-17 is Rs. 8,53,00,000. No amount is to be charged from any beneficiary. The notification imposes conditions: separate books of account audited by an accountant as defined in the Explanation below sub-section (2) of section 288; an audit report commenting on the true and fair view, the genuineness of the activities and fulfilment of conditions; no amount to be taken from beneficiaries for training, education, guidance or material; no direct or indirect benefit to the approved entity beyond the deduction itself; a data sheet of benefited oil palm farmers to be furnished to the Ministry of Agriculture; eligibility only for expenses other than cost of land or building, reduced by any amount received from a beneficiary, with a proviso excluding expenditure reimbursed or reimbursable by any person; a bar on claiming the same expenditure under any other provision for the same or any other assessment year; and, on or before the due date under sub-section (1) of section 139, filing with the Commissioner or Director of Income-tax of the audited statement of accounts with the audit report and the amount of deduction claimed, a note on the project undertaken and the programme and financial allocation for the current year, and a certificate from the Ministry of Agriculture as to the genuineness of the project.

Who it reaches

Godrej Agrovet Limited as the approved entity
oil palm farmers trained under the project
the accountant auditing the project's separate books
the Commissioner or Director of Income-tax receiving the annual filing
the Ministry of Agriculture issuing the genuineness certificate

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.35CC	no counterpart recorded
s.35CCC	s.47
s.288	s.515

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

SECTION 35CCC OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 - EXPENDITURE ON AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PROJECT - NOTIFIED ELIGIBLE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PROJECT - GODREJ AGROVET LIMITED - OIL PALM EXTENSION PROJECT
NOTIFICATION NO. 14/2015 [F.NO.203/31/2014/ITA.II], DATED 16-2-2015
FORM NO. 3CP

1.
Name, address and PAN 07 the applicant
Godrej Agrovet Limited, Pirojshanagar, Eastern Express Highway, Vikroli (East), Mumbai-400079 (AAACG0617Q)

2.
Title of the agricultural extension project
Oil Palm Extension Project

3.
Purpose of the agricultural extension project
Training farmers in cultivation of oil palm crop

4.
Reference No. and date of the application
F.No. 203/31/2014-ITA.II received on 14.01.2015

5.
Date of commencement of the agricultural extension project
Already commenced. However, approval shall be effective from the date of issue of this formal Notification u/s 35CCC of the IT. Act.

6.
Duration of the agricultural extension project in months
Ongoing project.

7.
Assessment year(s) for which the agricultural extension project is being notified (not exceeding three years)
From date of formal issue of Notification till A.Y. 2016-17.

8.
Total expenses likely to be incurred for the agricultural extension project (other than cost of land or building)
For A.Yr's 2014-2015 and 2015-16 (applicant has claimed expenses of Rs. 8,53,00,000/- for each year. However, as project is being accorded approval from subsequent date in the F.Yr. 2014-2015, the expected expenditure for the relevant period would be much lesser, as far as F.Yr. 2013-2014 is concerned, no claim u/s 35CCC shall be allowed) while for A.Y. 2016-17, likely expenditure is Rs. 8,53,00,000/-.

9.
Amount, if any, to be charged from each beneficiary of agricultural extension project.
NIL

10. Conditions subject to which agricultural extension project titled 'Animal Feeds Extension Project' is being notified are as under:

i.

The approved entity undertaking agricultural extension project shall maintain separate books of account of the agricultural extension project notified under sub-section (1) of section 35CCC, and get such books of account audited by an accountant as defined in the Explanation below sub-section (2) of section 288.

ii.

The audit report referred to in sub-rule (1) shall include the comments of the auditor on the true and fair view of the books of account maintained for agricultural extension project, the genuineness of the activities of the agricultural extension project and fulfilment of the conditions specified in the relevant provisions of the Act or the rules or the conditions mentioned in the notification issued under sub-rule (6) or sub-rule (9) of rule 6AAD.

iii.

The approved entity shall not accept any amount from the beneficiary under the eligible agricultural extension project for training, education, guidance or any material distributed for the purposes of such training, education or guidance.

iv.

The approved entity shall not get any direct or indirect benefit from the notified agricultural extension project except the deduction of the eligible expenditure in accordance with the provisions of section 35CCC of the Act, rule 6AAD and this rule.

v.

The applicant shall furnish data sheet of oil palm farmers who have benefitted from the project to the Ministry of Agriculture.

vi.

All expenses (not being expenditure in the nature of cost of any land or building), as reduced by the amount received from beneficiary, if any, incurred wholly and exclusively for undertaking an eligible agricultural extension project shall be eligible for deduction under section 35CCC:

Provided that any expenditure incurred on the agricultural extension project which is reimbursed or reimbursable to the assessee by any person, whether directly or indirectly, shall not be eligible for deduction under section 35CCC.

vii.

Where a deduction under this section 35CC of the Act is claimed and allowed for any assessment year, deduction shall not be allowed in respect of such expenditure under any other provisions of the Act for the same or any other assessment year.

viii.

The approved entity shall, on or before the due date of furnishing the return of income under sub-section (1) of section 139, furnish the following to the Commissioner of Income-tax or the Director of Income-tax, as the case may be, namely:—

(a)

the audited statement of accounts of the agricultural extension projects for the previous year along with the audit report and amount of deduction claimed under sub-section (1) of section 35CCC;

(b)

a note on the agricultural extension project undertaken by it during the previous year and the programme of agricultural extension project to be undertaken during the current year and the financial allocation for such programme; and

(c)

a certificate from the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, regarding the genuineness of the agricultural extension project undertaken by the assessee during the previous year.

ix.

Under the project only product neutral training will be given except a short session on company's profile and products.

11. The Central Board of Direct Taxes shall withdraw the approval if the approved entity:—

(a)

has ceased its activities; or

(b)

its activities are not genuine; or

(c)

its activities are not being carried out in accordance with all or any of the relevant provisions of the Act or Rules; or

(d)

its activities are not being carried out in accordance with all or any of the conditions subject to which the notification is being issued.

■■

What it changes

The rule numbers are the 1962 Rules’ own, as the notification names them. The right-hand column is the department’s own mapping into the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which renumbered nearly everything.

Rule of the 1962 Rules	Now, in the 2026 Rules
Rule 6AAD	rule 37

Forms it touches. Form No. 3CP

From when

the date of issue of the formal notification, and up to assessment year 2016-17.

What to watch

The approval runs from the date of issue of the formal notification, not from the date the project commenced, and no claim under section 35CCC is allowed for financial year 2013-14.
The notified period ends with assessment year 2016-17, the outer limit of three years the form itself recites.
Expenditure that is reimbursed or reimbursable, directly or indirectly, is excluded by the proviso, as is the cost of any land or building.
The annual filing is tied to the due date under sub-section (1) of section 139, and includes the Ministry of Agriculture's certificate; the deduction rests on all three items being furnished.
Condition 10 as printed describes the project being notified as the 'Animal Feeds Extension Project', although the project notified in items 2 and 5 is the Oil Palm Extension Project; and condition (vii) as printed cites 'section 35CC'.
The text available here is clipped in the middle of condition (ix), so the remaining conditions must be read from the notification as published.

Where you meet it

A reader meets this where Godrej Agrovet Limited claims the weighted deduction under section 35CCC in its return, and in the audited project accounts and Ministry of Agriculture certificate filed with the Commissioner or Director of Income-tax.

What it names

Forms it names. Form No. 3CP

Rules it names. Rule 6AAD of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The 1962 Rules were replaced by the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which renumbered nearly everything: a rule number quoted here almost never means the same rule today.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Notification No. 15/2015 [F.No.203/30/2014/ITA.II] — Section 35CCC of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Expenditure on Agricultural Extension Project - Notified Eligible Agricultur 16 February 2015
Notification No. 47E — Following classes and categories of programmes of rural development specified under section 35CC 28 January 1984
Notification No. 327E — Commissioner of Income-tax specified in column (2) of the Table below shall to the exclusion of all other Commissioners 31 May 1979
Circular No. 244 — Section 35CCA l Expenditure by WAY of Payment to Associations/institutions for Carrying OUT Rural Development Programmes 13 July 1978
Circular No. 231 — Section 35C C l Rural Development Allowance 14 November 1977
Notification No. 691E — Areas shown in column (3) of the Schedule hereto annexed and falling outside the local limits of the municipality or can 29 September 1977

What a notification is. A notification is made under a power the Act itself gives, and within that power it is law — unlike a circular, which only binds the department. Its reach is the reach of the enabling provision and no wider, and the date it carries decides from when it works.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.