Project import certification controls eligibility for customs concession where the competent authority has certified the terminal project.

Project import benefit was upheld for an LPG storage terminal certified by the competent project authority under Heading 98.01. The customs authorities could not disregard that certification or reappraise the project's eligibility merely because the facility was described as being for the appellant's own use. The record also indicated use by other oil companies, which supported the claim that the terminal fell within the certified project scope. Applying the rule that revenue cannot go behind the project authority's certificate absent a contrary legal basis, denial of project import treatment was unsustainable and the attendant duty demand and de-registration were set aside.

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Issues: Whether the appellants were entitled to the benefit of Project Import assessment for the LPG storage terminal project claimed as a Port Development Project under Notification No. 42/96-Cus dated 23/07/1996.

Analysis: The project was registered under Heading 98.01 and the competent State authority had expressly accepted the proposal and clarified that duty concession under the Project Import Regulations, 1986 could be permitted. The project authority's certificate covered the LPG import and storage facility, and the Revenue could not disregard that certification merely because the facility was stated to be for the appellants' own use. The material on record also showed use of the storage facility by other oil companies, supporting the appellants' case. Applying the principle that the Revenue cannot go behind the certificate of the project authority, the denial of project import benefit was unsustainable.

Conclusion: The appellants were entitled to the benefit of Project Import Regulations for the project in question, and the demand for differential duty and de-registration of the project were set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the competent project authority certifies a project as eligible for project import benefit, the customs authorities cannot deny the exemption by reappraising that certification in the absence of contrary legal basis.

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