Factory maintenance exemption applies to in-house refractory bricks used to repair kiln, even where they are the main product.

Notification No. 281/86-C.E. was held to cover excisable goods manufactured within the factory and used for maintenance of machinery or equipment installed there, without excluding goods that were also the assessee's main product. Refractory bricks made in the factory and used to repair the kiln were therefore treated as eligible for exemption, with the workshop regarded as co-extensive with the factory for this purpose. Denial of the benefit was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether refractory bricks manufactured within the factory and used for repairing the kiln installed in the factory were eligible for exemption under Notification No. 281/86-C.E. despite being the assessee's primary product.

Analysis: The notification was held to cover all excisable goods required for maintenance of machinery or equipment installed in the factory, and did not make any distinction based on whether the goods were ordinarily manufactured by the assessee as its main product. Since the refractory bricks were manufactured in the factory and used for maintenance of the kiln, the workshop was treated as co-extensive with the factory for the purpose of the exemption.

Conclusion: The exemption under Notification No. 281/86-C.E. was admissible, and denial of the benefit was unsustainable.

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