Immovable plant assembled in civil works is not excisable goods and falls outside central excise duty.

Assembly of duty-paid parts at site did not, by itself, create excisable goods where the waste water treatment plant became functional only after complete erection and embedding in civil works. For central excise, manufacture must result in a new commercial product that is movable and marketable; a plant that comes into existence only after completion of civil construction is treated as immovable property and falls outside excise duty. On these facts, the plant was not liable to central excise duty and the show cause notice could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether the waste water treatment plant, erected by assembling parts at site and embedding them in civil works, constituted excisable movable goods liable to central excise duty.

Analysis: The plant did not come into existence merely by bringing duty-paid parts to the site. Manufacture, for excise purposes, requires a process resulting in a new commercial product that is movable and marketable. On the admitted facts, the plant became functional only after complete assembly and embedding in the civil structure, and thus emerged as an immovable property. A plant that comes into existence only upon completion of civil works does not satisfy the requirement of excisable movable goods.

Conclusion: The plant was not liable to central excise duty, and the show cause notice was unsustainable.

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