State Electricity Board not treated as Government for exemption under Notification No. 74/93-CE; benefit denied.

Notification No. 74/93-CE dated 20.02.1993 was held inapplicable to PCC poles manufactured and cleared by a State Electricity Board because the Board could not be treated as the State Government or its department. The Tribunal followed the Larger Bench view that a State Electricity Board is a separate legal entity, and that 100% State Government ownership or shareholding does not place it on par with the Government for exemption purposes. As the statutory conditions requiring manufacture in a factory belonging to the State Government for use by a Government department were not met, the exemption benefit was denied.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to exemption under Notification No. 74/93-CE dated 20.02.1993 for PCC poles manufactured and cleared by it on the footing that it was equivalent to the State Government or its department.

Analysis: The exemption was claimed on the basis that the appellant, being a State Electricity Board, should be treated as the State Government and that the goods were manufactured in a factory belonging to the State Government for use by a Government department. The Tribunal applied the Larger Bench ruling that a State Electricity Board is not the same as the Government or its department, and that mere 100% shareholding or ownership by the State Government does not place the Board on par with the State Government. On that footing, the conditions of the notification were not satisfied.

Conclusion: The appellant was not entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 74/93-CE dated 20.02.1993.

---