1985 (9) TMI 202

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....f a notification, the Central Government exempted the industrial undertakings "having investment in fixed assets in plant and machinery not exceeding Rs. 20 lakhs" from payment of this cess. By issue of orders subsequently, the Government gave this notification retrospective effect from the date of the levy, i.e., 1-11-1980. Simultaneous with the exemption notification dated 3-2-1981, a clarification was issued by the Collector, by means of a trade notice that - "The cess is payable only on the out-put of paper and paperboard pertaining to the organised sector of the paper industry i.e. units registered with D.G.T.D. or licensed under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act." The point of dispute in the present appeal before us is....

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....nts were registered as a small scale unit by the State Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of Industries and Commerce, was immaterial. He added that cess, though designated as an excise duty, was different from Central Excise duty inasmuch as the cess collected was meant to be utilised for benefit of the industry itself. 5. The respondents stated that way back in 1975, the Central Government had fixed guidelines as to how the value of plant and machinery was to be determined for the purpose of distinguishing a small scale unit from an organised sector unit. In this connection, they invited our attention to the clarification contained on pages 261-262 of the Central Excise Law Guide by Shri R.K. Jain, Vth Edition, which re-produced th....

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....s were. He pleaded that the matter should be remanded to the Assistant Collector to enable the respondents to prove their eligibility to the exemption. 7. We have carefully considered the matter. Differential treatment of small scale units in our country is a well-known concept. Concessions of various types have been given by the Government from time to time as a measure of encouragement to small scale industries. In that connection, the point is bound to come up often as to what is a small scale unit or where to draw the line between small scale and large scale. Originally, the limit of Rs. 10 lakhs for value of the plant and machinery installed in the unit was fixed as a dividing line. Later, the limit was raised to Rs. 20 lakhs. On the ....