Cement concession under Notification No. 4/2006-C.E. applies to industrial and institutional buyers where retail price declaration is not required.

Cement cleared in 50 kg packs to industrial and institutional consumers was considered eligible for the concessional duty under Notification No. 4/2006-C.E. because the proviso applied where retail sale price declaration was not required and was not made. The Board's clarification treated such clearances as covered by Sl. Nos. 1B or 1C, on the basis that goods sold to industrial or institutional buyers were outside the retail price declaration requirement. The analysis rejected reliance on an opinion that focused only on the packaged nature of the goods without considering the end-use and buyer category. The notification benefit was therefore admissible and the duty demand could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether cement cleared in 50 kg packs to industrial and institutional consumers was entitled to the concessional duty benefit under Notification No. 4/2006-C.E. by virtue of the proviso relating to goods for which retail sale price declaration was not required.

Analysis: The Notification granted a concessional rate for cement not covered by the mini cement plant entry and contained a proviso that, where retail sale price was not required to be declared under the Standards of Weights and Measures law and was accordingly not declared, duty would be determined as for goods cleared in other than packaged form. The Board's clarification stated that goods sold to industrial or institutional consumers, for whom no retail sale price was required, would fall within the benefit of Sl. Nos. 1B or 1C by virtue of that proviso. The adjudicating authority had instead relied on an opinion focused on the packaged nature of the goods, without addressing the specific end-use and buyer category covered by the clarification.

Conclusion: The notification benefit was admissible and the duty demand could not be sustained.

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