SSI exemption turnover includes branded goods cleared at nil rate of duty, limiting exclusion to dutiable ineligible clearances.

Goods bearing another person's brand name that are cleared at nil rate of duty under Notification No. 8/2003-CE are includible in the aggregate value of clearances for the Small Scale Industry exemption ceiling. The notification, read with the amendment by Notification No. 30/2003-CE, excludes only ineligible branded clearances made on payment of duty without taking exemption, while goods actually cleared under the exemption or at nil rate remain part of the turnover computation. On that basis, the MEDIMIX clearances from the Pondicherry and Bangalore units had to be counted, making the Chennai unit ineligible for SSI benefit.

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Issues: Whether clearances of goods bearing the brand name of another person, made at nil rate of duty, are includible in computing the aggregate value of clearances for the purpose of Small Scale Industry exemption under Notification No. 8/2003-CE.

Analysis: Paragraph 3A(b) of Notification No. 8/2003-CE excludes clearances bearing the brand name or trade name of another person which are ineligible for the exemption in terms of paragraph 4. Read as a whole, the notification shows that goods not entitled to the exemption but cleared on payment of duty are excluded from the aggregate value computation, whereas goods actually cleared under exemption or at nil rate of duty remain includible for the ceiling under paragraph 2(vii). The amendment by Notification No. 30/2003-CE reinforced this method of computation.

Conclusion: The clearances of MEDIMIX soap from the Pondicherry and Bangalore units at nil rate of duty were required to be included in the aggregate value of clearances, and the assessee was therefore ineligible for SSI benefit for the Chennai unit.

Ratio Decidendi: For computing the SSI turnover ceiling, branded goods cleared at nil rate of duty are includible if they are actually cleared without payment of duty under the notification scheme, and exclusion applies only to clearances of ineligible branded goods made on payment of duty without availing the exemption.

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