Base turnover under an incentive scheme is confined to the later order's terms, without importing earlier local sales conditions.

For expansion projects under G.O. Ms. No. 108 dated 20.05.1996, "base turnover" is defined by the scheme itself as the best production achieved during the preceding three years or the maximum capacity expected to be achieved, whichever is higher. The later order was treated as a complete incentive code, so the earlier definitions in G.O. Ms. No. 386 and the clarification in G.O. Ms. No. 75 were not carried forward. The expression was not read as monetary turnover linked to local sales, and no additional condition requiring a prescribed local sales level could be imported into the scheme. Sales tax deferment could not therefore be denied on that basis.

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Issues: Whether, for expansion projects under G.O. Ms. No. 108 dated 20.05.1996, the expression "base turnover" means turnover in monetary value linked to local sales, or the best production achieved in quantity during the preceding three years or the maximum capacity expected from the financial institution's appraisal, and whether sales tax deferment can be denied for want of a prescribed local sales level.

Analysis: The scheme in G.O. Ms. No. 108 was treated as a new industrial policy introduced in modification of earlier orders and, for expansion projects, it expressly defined "base turnover" as the best production achieved during the preceding three years or the maximum capacity expected to be achieved, whichever is higher. The earlier definition in G.O. Ms. No. 386 and the clarification in G.O. Ms. No. 75 were not carried forward into G.O. Ms. No. 108. The language of the later order did not refer to turnover in monetary value or to any requirement of maintaining local sales at a particular level. The scheme was therefore construed on its own terms as a complete code for the incentive, and the absence of any express sales-level condition could not be supplemented by reference to earlier government orders.

Conclusion: The expression "base turnover" in G.O. Ms. No. 108 means best production in quantity, not monetary turnover, and no additional requirement of achieving a local sales level can be read into the scheme; the denial or restriction of sales tax deferment on that basis was unsustainable, and the relief was in favour of the assessees.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an incentive notification or government order defines the eligibility benchmark in specific terms, that definition must be applied as written and cannot be enlarged by importing conditions from earlier schemes unless the later instrument expressly adopts them.

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