Composite quarry contracts were treated as Mining Service, not Cargo Handling Service, for the pre-2007 period.

A composite quarry contract covering sizing, sorting, drilling, blasting, loading and incidental transport was treated as part of mining operations rather than a stand-alone cargo handling arrangement. The analysis emphasised that the work had to be read as a whole, with transport only incidental to extraction and movement from the quarry benches. Mining Service entered the service tax net only from 01.06.2007, and the Board's circular stated that coal cutting or mineral extraction and lifting within mining operations were not taxable before that date. On that basis, similar composite contracts were said to fall within Mining Service and not under Cargo Handling Service for the earlier period.

---

---

Issues: Whether the assessee's composite contract for sizing, sorting, loading and transporting quarried material was taxable as Cargo Handling Service before Mining Service was brought into the service tax net.

Analysis: The contract, read as a whole, showed that transport was only incidental to the larger mining operations, including sizing, sorting, drilling, blasting and loading from the quarry benches. The activities were not a stand-alone cargo handling arrangement. Mining Service was introduced into the service tax regime only from 01.06.2007, and the Board's circular clarified that coal cutting or mineral extraction and lifting as part of mining operations were not taxable prior to that date. The cited decisions on similar composite mining contracts supported the same view.

Conclusion: The activities fell within Mining Service and were not liable to be taxed as Cargo Handling Service for the earlier period. The assessee succeeded and the Revenue's appeal failed.

---