Customs exemption for imported batching plant upheld where PWD certification satisfied the notification's contract-award condition.

Import of a Concrete Weigh Batching Plant was held to qualify for exemption under Notification No. 23/98-Cus. because the construction contract for the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway had been certified by the Public Works Department as having been awarded through the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation to the importer. That certification satisfied Condition No. 74(a)(ii), which required award by the State Public Works Department. Denial of the exemption solely because the contract was routed through MSRDC was therefore unsustainable, and the exemption refusal was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the importer was entitled to the benefit of exemption under Notification No. 23/98-Cus. for the imported Concrete Weigh Batching Plant, in the facts relating to compliance with Condition No. 74(a)(ii).

Analysis: The contract for construction of the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway had been certified by the Public Works Department as having been awarded through the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation to the appellant. On that basis, the condition in the notification requiring award by the State Public Works Department was treated as satisfied. The denial of exemption on the sole ground that the contract was awarded through MSRDC was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: The appellant was entitled to the exemption benefit under Notification No. 23/98-Cus., and the denial of exemption was set aside.

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