Manufacture exemption for bridge crane upheld where equipment was necessary for assembling wind-powered electricity generators.

A bridge crane imported for use in assembling a wind-operated electricity generator was treated as machinery required for manufacture and, on a plain reading of Notification No. 123/87-Cus., qualified for exemption as equipment used in the manufacture of goods functioning with the aid of non-conventional energy. The decisive test was whether the crane was necessary for any stage of the manufacturing process in the factory, not whether it directly produced the final product. A Ministry of Energy certificate supporting that use reinforced eligibility, and the exemption was available.

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Issues: Whether a bridge crane imported for use in assembling a wind-operated electricity generator was eligible for exemption under Notification No. 123/87-Cus. as machinery required for manufacture of goods functioning with the aid of non-conventional energy.

Analysis: The notification was construed according to its plain words. The decisive consideration was whether the crane was required for the manufacture of the final product, not whether it performed the immediate or direct act from which the product emerged. Manufacture was treated as a cumulative result of several processes, and if the crane was necessary for any one of those processes in the factory, it could be regarded as required for manufacture. The certificate from the Ministry of Energy that the crane was required for the purpose also supported eligibility.

Conclusion: The bridge crane was held to be required for manufacture and the exemption under the notification was available.

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