Consumables under sales tax law exclude fuel used only to run machinery, denying concessional tax treatment.

Diesel oil, gas and similar inputs used merely for running machinery or for ancillary operations do not fall within "consumables" under section 5-B of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957. The term was read narrowly in statutory context and confined to goods directly consumed in manufacture or transformed into the end product, consistent with the principle in Thomas Stephen. Broader interpretations drawn from the Central Sales Tax Act and related rules were distinguished because they concerned different wording. As a result, such fuel and ancillary-use goods do not qualify for concessional tax under section 5-B.

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Issues: Whether diesel oil, gas and similar items used by manufacturers for running machinery or for ancillary purposes fall within the word "consumables" in section 5-B of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 so as to qualify for concessional tax.

Analysis: The concessional levy under section 5-B applies to goods sold to another dealer for use as raw material, component part, sub-assembly part, intermediate part, consumables and packing material in the manufacture of other goods inside the State. The expression "consumables" was read in the light of the statutory context and the Kerala decision affirmed by the Supreme Court in Thomas Stephen, which held that goods used only as fuel or for maintenance and not transformed into the end product do not amount to consumption in manufacture. The broader line of cases under section 8(3)(b) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 and rule 13 of the Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957 was distinguished because those cases construed the phrase "in the manufacture or processing of goods for sale" and not the term "consumables". The forms and rules under the Andhra Pradesh Act, though using related expressions such as "to manufacture" and "in the manufacture of", did not warrant a wider meaning where the statutory word itself had been judicially confined.

Conclusion: Diesel oil, gas and other goods used merely for running machinery or for ancillary purposes are not "consumables" under section 5-B, and the petitioners are not entitled to concessional tax on that basis.

Ratio Decidendi: "Consumables" in section 5-B of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 covers only goods directly consumed in the manufacture as part of, or transformed into, the end product and does not extend to fuel or other goods used merely for ancillary operations or for running machinery.

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