Export rebate limited to duty on finished goods, not raw material duty used in manufacture.

Rebate under Rule 12 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 and Notification No. 197/62 was confined to duty paid on the excisable goods actually exported. The exported M.S. flats were treated as a distinct excisable commodity from the billets used in manufacture, so rebate attached only to the duty paid at clearance of the finished goods from the factory. The separate treatment of semi-finished steel under Rule 8 and Notification No. 153/77, together with Rule 12A for rebates on excisable materials used in manufacture, showed that billet duty could not be included in the rebate claim absent a notification under Rule 12A. Rebate on billets was therefore disallowed.

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Issues: Whether rebate under the export rebate notification was admissible only on the duty paid on the finished exported goods or also on the duty paid on the billets used as raw material in their manufacture.

Analysis: The rebate scheme under Rule 12 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 and Notification No. 197/62 was confined to the duty paid on the excisable goods exported out of India. The exported M.S. flats were a distinct excisable commodity from the billets used in their manufacture. The duty rebate was therefore linked to the duty actually paid at the time of clearance of the finished goods from the factory. The separate treatment of semi-finished steel under Rule 8 and Notification No. 153/77 reinforced that the raw material duty could not be carried into the rebate claim under Rule 12. Rule 12A dealt separately with rebate on excisable materials used in manufacture, and in the absence of a notification under that rule, no rebate could be claimed on the billets.

Conclusion: Rebate was admissible only on the duty paid on the finished exported M.S. flats and not on the duty paid on the billets. The claim for additional rebate on the raw material failed.

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