Permanent establishment under the India-Mauritius DTAA arises from fixed-place business use at the enterprise's disposal, not ownership.

A foreign enterprise was treated as having a permanent establishment in India under Article 5 of the India-Mauritius DTAA because the contractual and operational facts showed activity in India for more than nine months, with the vessel and personnel physically present and the business carried on through a fixed place at the enterprise's disposal. Ownership or lease of the place was held unnecessary for PE purposes, and the absence of title did not negate taxability where the place was available for business operations. On that basis, the receipts were treated as taxable in India under the treaty framework.

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Issues: Whether the assessee had a permanent establishment in India under Article 5 of the India-Mauritius DTAA so as to render the receipts taxable in India.

Analysis: The contracts were examined to determine the commencement and completion dates, and the period of activity in India was found to exceed nine months when the effective dates of work were taken from the contractual terms and completion certificates. The vessel and personnel were physically present in India and constituted a fixed place through which the business was carried on. The argument that the place had to be owned by the assessee was rejected, since ownership is not required where the place is at the disposal of the enterprise. The clause dealing with mines, oil or gas wells and other places of extraction was held to apply on the basis of the place being available for business operations, and the absence of title in the assessee did not defeat the existence of a permanent establishment.

Conclusion: The assessee had a permanent establishment in India and the receipts were taxable in India under the treaty framework.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded only on the permanent establishment issue, and the other grounds were left without independent relief.

Ratio Decidendi: A foreign enterprise has a permanent establishment where a fixed place in India is at its disposal for carrying on business, even if it does not own or lease that place, and the treaty threshold must be applied on the basis of the contractual and operational facts.

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