Excise valuation of captive wrapping paper follows industrial-consumer price, not dealer price, for normal price determination.

Captively used wrapping paper was held assessable to excise on the basis of the normal price applicable to industrial consumers, not the lower dealer price, under Section 4(1)(a) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. The valuation provision was read as requiring the normal price of comparable goods in the market, and it was not necessary that the very goods must have been sold. Where identical goods had different normal prices, the industrial-consumer price was treated as the closer benchmark for captive industrial use.

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Issues: Whether wrapping paper captively used by the manufacturer for packing other paper was liable to be valued for excise purposes at the price applicable to dealers or at the price applicable to industrial consumers under Section 4(1)(a) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944.

Analysis: The captively used goods were held to be comparable to the goods sold to industrial consumers, and the lower price allowed to dealers was not treated as the proper normal price for captive use. The valuation provision was understood to contemplate the normal price of such goods, and it was not necessary that the very goods must have been sold. Where identical goods had different normal prices in the market, the price applicable to industrial consumers had the closer nexus with the assessee's own industrial use.

Conclusion: The captively consumed paper was correctly assessable at the price applicable to industrial consumers, and the appeals failed.

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