Exemption under industrial area notification applies where the unit falls within the listed proposed area and qualifies as an existing or new unit.

An exemption under Notification No. 50/2003 applied to goods cleared from a unit located in a specified industrial area listed in Annexure-II. The notification covered industrial growth centres, industrial infrastructure development centres, industrial estates and similar areas, including proposed industrial areas, and its terms extended the benefit to both existing and newly established units. The unit's location within the relevant khasra number and the contemporaneous Industries Department memorandum supported eligibility. Denial of the exemption was therefore unsustainable, and the exemption was allowed with consequential relief.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellant-unit was entitled to exemption under Notification No. 50/2003 for goods cleared from a unit located in the specified industrial area, and whether both existing and new units in the proposed industrial area were eligible for the benefit.

Analysis: The notification exempted goods cleared from units located in the industrial growth centre, industrial infrastructure development centre, industrial estate or similar areas specified in Annexure-II. Annexure-II expressly included proposed industrial areas/estates, and the appellant's unit was situated in the relevant khasra number shown in the annexure. The notification also indicated that both existing and newly established units could avail the exemption. The contemporaneous memorandum of the Director of Industries further supported inclusion of the area in the notification's ambit and recorded eligibility for fiscal incentives.

Conclusion: The appellant-unit was eligible for the exemption under Notification No. 50/2003, and denial of the benefit was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The exemption denial was set aside, and the appeals succeeded with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exemption notification covers units located in a specified or proposed industrial area listed in the relevant annexure, eligibility cannot be denied when the unit falls within the identified location and the notification extends the benefit to both existing and new units.

---