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2015 (10) TMI 2261

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.... the goods under CTH 26140010 as Ilmenite unprocessed as per Section 18 of the Customs Act. Against this, appellant preferred appeal and Commissioner (Appeals) in the impugned order rejected the appeal and upheld the OIO. Hence the present appeal. 3. Learned Senior Counsel Shri S. Venkatraman appearing for the appellants explained the brief background of the various process involved in the export of Ilmenite upgraded ore and also submitted a detailed written submissions with case laws and reiterated the same. He submits that appellants are exporting Ilmenite upgraded and the issue in this appeal is of classification goods exported whether Ilmenite, unprocessed" falling under 26140010 or Ilmenite, upgraded (beneficiated Ilmenite including Ilmenite ground) falling under 26140020 . He also produced raw samples (unprocessed) as well as finished samples (processed) ready for export. He drew our attention to para-5 (i) of OIO where the adjudicating authority has explained the various processes undertaken by the appellant which is not disputed. He submits that they mined the raw sand and put through various processes i.e. the spiralling processing, magnetic separator, cross flow separato....

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....he end product can be termed as a concentrate only when the grade of ore is sufficiently improved through beneficiation. He submits that in view of Board s circular and the Supreme Court s citation referred to above, the product Ilmenite is described by process of beneficiation and this does not involve any chemical change or chemical reaction and through the process of beneficiation the resultant product is Ilmenite Upgraded Ore called Ilmenite Beneficiated . 5. He further submits that the department classified their product as Ilmenite Unprocessed by relying Tribunal s decision in the case of Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd. Vs CCE 2007 (214) ELT 556 (T) and Indian Rare Earth s Ltd. Vs CCE 2002 (139) ET 352 which are not applicable and not relatable to the present case as in those cases, what was before the Tribunal was the issue of manufacture and excisability under section 2 (f) of Central Excise Act not the issue of beneficiation . Further the department relying website details of Kerala Minerals Ltd. is beneficiation-related where the ore undergoes the process of roasting and chemical treatment and after its chemical treatment and roasting, the product emerging out is only Sy....

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....e exported goods as to whether the Ore Ilmenite is classifiable under Chapter sub heading 26140020 or under chapter sub heading 26140010 of CTH. On perusal of OIO passed by the adjudicating authority, we find that he had passed the order only on classification and finalised all the 85 shipping bills and there is no demand of export duty. There is no dispute in the fact that the appellant is an EOU had set up plant for processing of ore and regularly exporting Ilmenite in the past as there was no export duty and classification was not disputed by either side. Consequent on imposition of export duty on Ilemnite in the year 2013 (w.e.f. 1.3.2013) the rate of duty on export has been prescribed under Notfn 15/2-013-Cus for unprocessed Ilmenite falling under CH 26140010 is chargeable @ 10% and the Ilemnite upgraded (Beneficiated Ilmenite) falling under chapter 26140020 chargeable @5%. Apparently the two different rates of export duty on the Ilmenite prompted the appellant to reclassify the goods and the appellants claim that the goods are rightly classifiable under CH 26140010 as Ilmenite upgraded (Beneficiated) whereas the Revenue choose to classify the goods under Ch 26140010 as Ilmeni....

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....esired produce or removing unwanted materials for the purpose of easy transportation and also for improving the quality, purity of the product. Anyone or all the 3 activities carried out on ore/mineral is known as beneficiation . On perusal of flow chart of various process of beneficiation plant of the appellant which is duly approved by Ministry of Mines & Department of Atomic Energy clearly confirm the appellant s carrying out the activities stipulated under Rule 3 (d) of Mineral Conservation and Development Rules. By this process the unprocessed ore becomes upgraded Ilmenite. 11. We have also seen the sample of both unprocessed and the final product i.e. upgraded Ilmenite and perused the certificate dt. 1.3.2013 issued by the Department of Geology & Mines, Govt of Tamil Nadu which clearly confirms that appellants are licensed by the Government of Tamil Nadu to export processed/upgraded Ilmenite. Both adjudicating authority and the LAA relied the website literature of another company i.e. Kerala Minerals Ltd. and based their decision only on the issue of roasting and acid wash or chemical treatment. The department also contends that beneficiated ore should be high % of TiO2 whic....

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....roduction of 100 tonnes of ROM coal has been taken. Therefore, Quantity produced (Extracted) : = 100 tonnes Beneficiation : The products are dewatered but still the surface moisture gets adhered to the product generated. The beneficiation is a wet process i.e. raw coal mass flows through different process in slurry form. Output is measured on wet process because it is transported on wet basis (with moisture). Hence the output is more than the in put of raw coal. Beneficiation process results in Clean Coal; Middlings; Tailings; and Rejects Conclusion : It is quite clear that beneficiation process (dense media gravity separation and froth floatation) are a physical separation process to separate higher ash coal and lower ash coal, so no chemical changes are there in the coal mineral, as there are no chemical reactions involved during this beneficiation process. Referring below a flow chart [not relevant] ..... From the quantity related table, it is also quite evident that due to addition of water during wet beneficiation, the summation of beneficiated coal product quantity is higher than fed ROM coal quantity." The Apex court in the above decision clearly spel....