Consumables not raw materials in granite slab polishing, so concessional duty exemption could not be denied.

Imported epoxy resins used in polishing granite slabs were treated as consumables, not raw materials, under the exemption condition. Following earlier Tribunal decisions, the text states that such resins do not satisfy the requirement of imported raw materials for a 100% export oriented unit. On that basis, denial of the concessional duty benefit was not justified, and the assessee was entitled to the notification benefit.

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Issues: Whether imported resins used in the manufacture of polished granite slabs by a 100% export oriented unit were raw materials or only consumables, and whether the benefit of the exemption notification could be denied on that basis.

Analysis: The issue was treated as settled by earlier Tribunal decisions holding that epoxy resins used in polishing granite slabs were not raw materials but consumables. Following that view, the imported resins used in the manufacture of polished granite slabs were not regarded as imported raw materials for the purpose of the exemption condition. The denial of the concessional duty benefit was therefore not justified.

Conclusion: The imported resins were held to be consumables and not raw materials, and the assessee was held entitled to the benefit of the notification.

Ratio Decidendi: Where imported epoxy resins are used only as consumables in the manufacture of polished granite slabs, they do not constitute raw materials for the exemption condition, and the concessional duty benefit cannot be denied on that ground.

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