17. Exemption from income tax of the profits and income of any company from any specified undertaking

an undertaking carried on by a company –

incorporated before April 1, 2002, with a minimum investment of rupees fifty million invested in such undertaking ; or

incorporated with a minimum investment of rupees ten million invested in such undertaking , and which is engaged in agriculture, agro processing, industrial and machine tool manufacturing, machinery manufacturing, electronics, export of non-traditional products, or information technology and allied services ;

any designated project carried on by a company which qualify under the same investment criteria as referred to in sub paragraph (i) of paragraph (a) of this subsection and which conforms to the prescribed guidelines ; and

an undertaking of a pioneering nature as determined by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette, carried on by a company with an investment in excess of rupees two hundred and fifty million.

Notwithstanding the provisions of sub section (1), for any company having an investment not less than rupees one thousand million in any pioneering undertaking as determined by the Minister, the period of exemption shall be the corresponding period referred to in Column II below, provided the corresponding minimum investment as given in Column I has been made—

The amount of investment referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (2), shall not be applicable to any

In case of a company receiving income from any other trade or business in addition to the income from any specified undertaking referred to in subsection (2), the exemption provided under this section shall be applicable only in respect of the profits and income from the relevant specified undertaking as referred to in that subsection.

“agriculture” means the cultivation of land with plants of any description, rearing of fish or animal husbandry, including poultry farms, veterinary and artificial insemination services and other support services ;

“agro processing” means the processing of any agricultural product or fishing product including deep sea fishing, but excludes the processing of black tea in bulk and the manufacture of liquor ;

“non-traditional products” means any goods (other than black tea in bulk, crepe rubber, sheet rubber, scrap rubber, latex and fresh coconuts), including deemed export of such goods, where not less than eighty per centum of the total turnover of such undertaking is from export or deemed export of such non traditional goods, for any year of assessment ;

“deemed export” means the production or manufacture and supply by any person or partnership of any commodities (other than black tea in bulk, crepe rubber, sheet rubber, scrap rubber, latex and fresh coconuts) to any exporter of such goods without further production or manufacture by such exporter or the production or manufacture and supply of any goods to any exporter for the production, manufacture or packaging for export of any commodity which is a non traditional product.