Irregular availment of Cenvat credit on certain activities not amounting to manufacture-reg.

Cenvat credit eligibility: credit disallowed where activity does not amount to manufacture; regularisation route available.

Irregular availment of Cenvat credit on activities that do not amount to manufacture is not permissible under Rule 3 read with Rule 6 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004; such processing does not attract duty and thereby does not justify input credit. Departments must advise assessees to stop paying duty and claiming credit where there is no manufacture, while assessees who have already paid duty and face a judicial finding of non-manufacture may seek regularisation under Section 5B of the Central Excise Act, 1944.