Concessional purchase tax on cotton applies from a mill's establishment date, not a fixed statutory date, for eligible textile mills.

The concessional purchase tax rate on cotton under the notification applied to textile mills established on or after 1 December 1979, with the five-year concession period reckoned from the date of establishment of the mill. The proviso was treated as plain and unambiguous, so the benefit was not a fixed concession from 1 December 1979 for all mills; it attached only to qualifying mills and ran for five years from their own establishment date. As the assessee had set up the textile mill after the stipulated date and satisfied the other conditions, the concessional rate was held applicable in its favour.

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Issues: Whether the concessional rate of purchase tax on cotton under the notification was available from the date of establishment of the textile mill or only from 1 December 1979.

Analysis: The notification granted a concessional rate of purchase tax on cotton to textile mills established on or after 1 December 1979, for a period of five years to be reckoned from the aforesaid date, subject to specified conditions. The language of the proviso was held to be plain and unambiguous: the benefit attached to mills established on or after the stipulated date, and the starting point for the five-year concession was the date of establishment of the mill, not 1 December 1979 as a fixed date for all cases. Since the assessee had established the mill after 1 December 1979 and satisfied the other conditions, the concessional rate was held applicable.

Conclusion: The question was answered in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue; the assessee was entitled to the concessional rate from the date of establishment of the textile mill, subject to the five-year limit.

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