Cenvat credit on factory canteen catering service allowed where canteen is required for workers and linked to manufacture.

Service tax paid on catering services used for a factory canteen was treated as eligible for Cenvat credit because the canteen facility was statutorily required for workers under the Factories Act and had a nexus with the manufacture of final products and the business of manufacture. The analysis followed an earlier decision in the assessee's own case and applied the Supreme Court-based view on input service eligibility for such worker welfare facilities. Cenvat credit was therefore admissible, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether service tax paid on catering service used for the factory canteen was eligible for Cenvat credit.

Analysis: The canteen facility was required to be provided to workers under Section 46 of the Factories Act, 1948, and the service had a nexus with the manufacture of final products and with the business of manufacture. The issue was already covered by the earlier decision relied upon in the assessee's own case, following the Supreme Court-based view on input service eligibility for such facility.

Conclusion: Cenvat credit on catering service for the factory canteen was admissible, and the Revenue's appeals had no merit.

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