Project import concession requires a formal registered contract, not just a purchase order for imported equipment.

Concessional assessment as a project import under Heading 84.66 required compliance with the project import conditions, including a formal contract for goods needed for initial setting up and registration of that contract with Customs. A mere purchase order was not sufficient to satisfy the contractual requirement, and the camera's utility for the printing unit or the timing of import did not cure that defect. The process camera with accessories was therefore not eligible for project import concession, and the refusal to register the transaction was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the imported process camera with accessories was eligible for concessional assessment as a project import under Heading 84.66 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 on the basis of a purchase order, without a formal contract registered under the Project Imports (Registration of Contract) Regulations, 1988.

Analysis: The concession under Heading 84.66 was held to depend on satisfaction of the project import requirements, including the existence of a formal contract for goods required for initial setting up, and registration of that contract with Customs. The respondents had sought registration only on the basis of a purchase order. The prior decisions relied upon showed that a mere purchase order or similar commercial documentation was not enough to amount to the contract contemplated by the heading, and that the statutory condition could not be treated as satisfied merely because the camera was useful for the printing unit or imported within a reasonable time.

Conclusion: The process camera was not eligible for project import concessional assessment, and the rejection of registration by the Assistant Collector was upheld.

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