Concessional CVD exemption for imported goods upheld where CENVAT credit condition did not defeat relief to a non-manufacturer.

Imported goods were treated as deemed manufactured goods in India for the purpose of additional customs duty, and the ruling in SRF Ltd. was applied to determine entitlement to concessional CVD under Notification No. 12/2012-CE. The condition of non-availment of CENVAT credit did not defeat the exemption where the importer was not a manufacturer, no evidence showed credit availment, and the assessment procedure then in force constrained the importer. The order granting concessional duty was upheld as lawful.

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Issues: Whether the importer was entitled to concessional countervailing duty under Notification No. 12/2012-CE, and whether the order extending that benefit was sustainable.

Analysis: The levy of additional customs duty under Section 3(1) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is to place imported goods on the same footing as like goods manufactured in India. The binding ruling in SRF Ltd. was treated as final, and it was held that imported goods are to be imagined as manufactured in India for determining entitlement to exemption and concessional duty. The condition of non-availment of CENVAT credit was held not to defeat the exemption in the case of an importer who is not a manufacturer, particularly when no contrary evidence of credit availment was shown and the importer was also constrained by the assessment procedure then in force.

Conclusion: The importer was held entitled to the concessional rate of CVD, and the order allowing the exemption was upheld as lawful.

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