GST classification turns on essential character: transport tank on chassis remains a tank under Heading 7311, not a motor vehicle.

Under the GST classification framework, the product must be classified by applying the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and its interpretative rules. The excise-era deeming fiction treating mounting on a chassis as manufacture of a motor vehicle does not apply to GST tariff classification because Chapter 87 contains no analogous chapter note. A transport tank made of iron or steel, intended for compressed or liquefied gas and mounted on a customer's chassis only for mobility, retains its essential character as a tank. It is therefore classifiable under Heading 7311 and not under Heading 8704.

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Issues: Whether the supply of transport tank mounted on the customer's chassis is classifiable as a tank under Heading 7311 or as a motor vehicle under Heading 8704 in the GST regime.

Analysis: Under the GST framework, classification is to be determined by the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and the interpretative rules applicable to it. The deeming fiction under the erstwhile excise regime, by which mounting or fitting structures on a chassis amounted to manufacture of a motor vehicle, does not carry over to the tariff classification under the GST regime because Chapter 87 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 contains no analogous chapter note. The transport tank therefore has to be classified on its own merits. The goods are containers for compressed or liquefied gas, made of iron or steel, and the mounting on chassis is only for mobility and does not alter the essential nature of the article as a tank.

Conclusion: The product is classifiable under Heading 7311 and not under Heading 8704.

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