Excise exemption for project-specific steel pipes applies even to pre-order clearances within the notified supply scheme.

Cement coated steel pipes fabricated for a specified water supply project qualified for exemption from central excise duty under the Government order issued under section 5A(2). The order covered excisable goods supplied to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board for the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme, and the exemption was held to apply even where clearances were made before the date of the order, so long as they fell within the special project and were supplied in terms of the order. The demand was therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether cement coated steel pipes manufactured and cleared for a special project were entitled to exemption from central excise duty under the Government order issued under section 5A(2), including for clearances made before the date of the order.

Analysis: The exemption order covered excisable goods fabricated for and supplied to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board in connection with the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme. The period in dispute preceded the date of the order, but the same controversy had already been decided in the appellant's own case, where it was held that such clearances, made prior to the order but within the scope of the special project and supplied in terms of the order, were exempt from duty. Following that determination, the impugned order was not sustainable.

Conclusion: The exemption applied, and the demand was set aside in favour of the assessee.

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