EOU duty concession requires strict satisfaction of exemption conditions, not just reliance on another product exemption.

A 100% Export Oriented Undertaking clearing goods into the Domestic Tariff Area could claim concessional duty under Notification No. 13/98-CE only if the notification's specific condition was met, namely that the finished goods would be wholly exempt from excise duty or chargeable to nil rate if manufactured by a non-EOU unit. Reliance on the exemption for finished goods under Notification No. 6/2002-CE did not by itself satisfy that requirement. The EOU concession could not be extended merely because the finished product was said to fall under another exemption, and the claimed benefit was therefore unavailable.

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Issues: Whether a 100% Export Oriented Undertaking clearing goods into the Domestic Tariff Area was entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 13/98-CE by relying on the exemption available to the finished goods under Notification No. 6/2002-CE, and whether the condition that the goods, if manufactured by a unit other than an EOU, must be wholly exempt or chargeable to nil rate of duty, was satisfied.

Analysis: Notification No. 13/98-CE grants concessional duty on DTA clearances by an EOU only when its conditions are satisfied, including the requirement that the finished goods would be wholly exempt from excise duty or chargeable to nil rate of duty if manufactured by a unit other than an EOU or a free trade zone unit. The respondent manufactured ropes from duty-free tapes procured as an EOU, and the claimed linkage to Notification No. 6/2002-CE did not establish satisfaction of the condition in Notification No. 13/98-CE. The exemption under the latter notification could not be claimed merely because the finished product was said to be covered by another notification when the essential condition for the EOU concession was not met.

Conclusion: The respondent was not entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 13/98-CE, and the Revenue's appeal succeeded.

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