Assessable value excludes site-supplied nuts and bolts used only for erecting immovable transmission towers.

Bought out nuts and bolts supplied directly to the buyer's site for erection and commissioning of transmission towers were not includible in the assessable value of the manufactured towers cleared from the factory. The article notes that such items never entered the factory, were used only at site, and did not form part of the manufacturing activity. It also states that the site activity resulted in an immovable structure, and goods that come into existence only as immovable property are not excisable. On that basis, duty was not payable on the bought out items or on the site-erected structure, and their value could not be added to the assessable value.

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Issues: Whether the value of bought out nuts and bolts supplied directly to the buyer's site for erection and commissioning of transmission towers could be included in the assessable value of the appellant's manufactured goods, and whether duty could be demanded on such bought out items or on the site-erected structure.

Analysis: The nuts and bolts were not brought into the appellant's factory and did not form part of the manufacturing activity of the transmission towers cleared from the factory. They were supplied directly from the vendor to the buyer's site and were used only for erection and commissioning at site. The goods manufactured and cleared from the factory were the transmission towers in unassembled form, on which duty had already been discharged. The site activity resulted in an immovable structure, and bought out items used only for such erection could not be treated as manufactured excisable goods. The settled approach on marketability and immovability supported the view that items which cannot be marketed without dismantling, and which come into existence only as immovable property at site, are not exigible to duty. On the same reasoning, the value of such bought out items could not be added to the assessable value of the manufactured towers.

Conclusion: The inclusion of the value of bought out nuts and bolts in the assessable value was not sustainable, and no duty was payable on those items or on the site-erected immovable structure.

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