Manufacture requires a new commercial commodity; crushing boulders into gitti is only a change in size, not manufacture.

Crushing boulders into gitti does not amount to manufacture under section 2(17) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, because manufacture requires the emergence of a new commercial commodity and not merely a change in size or form. The Court held that the process of converting stone into chips, gitti or ballast remains processing of the same goods, so the activity falls outside the statutory definition of manufacture and the answer is in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether crushing boulders into smaller sizes known as gitti amounts to manufacture under section 2(17) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959.

Analysis: The statutory definition of manufacture covers producing, making, extracting, altering, ornamenting, finishing or otherwise processing, treating or adapting goods. Even so, a process amounts to manufacture only if it brings into existence a new commercial commodity. Crushing boulders into gitti does not create a different commercial product; it is only a change in size and form. The conclusion is consistent with the earlier view that crushing stone into chips, gitti or ballast does not amount to manufacture.

Conclusion: Crushing boulders into gitti does not amount to manufacture under section 2(17) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, and the answer is in favour of the assessee.

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