TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (4) TMI 1598
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....ppellants claimed clearance of the said goods without payment of CVD in terms of exemption Notification No.04/2006-CE dt.01.03.2006. The Bills of Entry were provisionally assessed in terms of section 18 of the Customs Act, 1962, pending submission of certain documents. Subsequently, the department proposed to finalize the assessment by levying CVD on the ground that the imported goods were 'concentrates' and not 'ores', purportedly in view of Chapter Note 4 to Chapter 26 of Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, introduced w.e.f. 01.03.2011. On adjudication, the Original Authority finalized the provisional assessment and held that imported goods are not ores but concentrates and hence not entitled for exemption under Notification 04/2006 and confirmed the recovery of CVD. Being aggrieved by the OIO, the appellants filed appeal before Commissioner (Appeals), who has upheld the OIO and confirmed the recovery of CVD, against which the appellants are in appeal before the Tribunal. 3. Learned Counsel for the appellant has mainly submitted that they had furnished all the requisite documents including contract, invoice, load port analysis, etc., and therefore, the appellants have duly discha....
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....ating, chloridating, etc.)" 5. Further, the learned Counsel has submitted that there is no evidence that the ore underwent any special treatment or beneficiation to improve its grade. The CBEC Circular No.332/1/2012-TRU dt.17.02.2012 clarified that crushing and screening of ores do not constitute special treatment and the product emerging therefrom cannot be treated as concentrate. In the present case, neither the overseas supplier nor the appellant undertook any special treatment and hence the goods remain 'manganese ore'. 6. He has further contended that adjudicating authority failed to draw samples or obtain any test report from a recognized laboratory to establish that the imported goods were 'concentrate' and the findings were based merely on assumption and technical literature, which cannot substitute factual evidence. In this regard, he has relied on the judgment of Coordinate Bench in the case of Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Paper Ltd Vs CCE, Tuticorin [2010 (253) ELT 153 (Tri)], wherein, it was held that if the department had any doubt, it should have conducted a test; in absence thereof, the importer's classification must prevail. 7. Learned Advocate has further submit....
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....ied out on ROM ore before it is shipped to the appellants. Even crushing of ore and removal of overburden i.e., stone etc., has taken place. The issue is whether these are normal process or special process. 10. We find that similar issue has been dealt by this Tribunal in the case of M/s Sarda Energy & Minerals Ltd & Ors Vs CC, Visakhapatnam [Final Order No.A/30013-30016/2026 dt.09.01.2026], wherein, in the similar set of facts and admitted positions, it was held that the subject processes undertaken on ROM ore has resulted into emergence of concentrate, keeping in view the chapter note and HSN explanation, which is a distinct excisable goods in view of deeming provisions. The relevant paras in the Final Order of this Tribunal are reproduced below for ease of reference. "21. We also find that in the case of CC, Nhava Sheva I, Mumbai Vs Malu Electrodes Pvt Ltd (supra), the Hon'ble Supreme Court, while examining the issue of chapter note 2 and chapter note 4 of Chapter 26, in the similar context, inter alia, held that the judgment of the Tribunal, against which the Revenue had come in appeal, has not considered the observations and the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court i....
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....are taken note of, as a fortiori, it becomes obvious that Notification No. 4/2006-C.E. which exempts only ores would not include within itself 'concentrates' also because of the reason that after the insertion of Note 4, concentrate is to be treated as a different product than ores, in law for the purposes of products of Chapter 26. 30. ............ 31. We, thus, are of the opinion that in the impugned judgment, the Tribunal has rightly arrived at the conclusion that by virtue of Note 4, concentrate has to be necessarily treated as different from ores which is deemed as manufactured product after Molybdenum Ores underwent the process of roasting. Once we keep in mind that conversion of ores into concentrate is considered as manufacture and, therefore, becomes liable for central excise levy, exemption Notification No. 4/2006-C.E. is to be interpreted in this light as the Legislature has intended to treat ores and concentrates as two distinct items and Notification No. 4/2006-C.E. exempts only 'ores', concentrates automatically falls outside the purview of said notification. It is rightly argued by the learned senior counsel for the Revenue that exemption notificati....
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....is also involved for removal of foreign material partly or fully. Therefore, what might have been clarified in the context of iron ore, need not be true for all types of ores or end use, as they have different impurities and intended uses requiring different kinds of preparatory processes. 23. Therefore, both on account of cited judgments having not taken into account the observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of M/s Star Industries Vs CC (Imports), Raigad (supra) as also the fact that circular itself has not been correctly applied in the given factual matrix, the cited judgments are not relevant and are distinguished. There is another ground taken that similar activities are being performed in respect of Manganese ore extracted and sold in India, where such activities have not been treated as amounting to manufacture. However, per contra, learned AR has relied on the case of M/s MOIL Ltd Vs CCE & ST, Jabalpur (supra), wherein, the issue examined by the Tribunal was whether various processes such as crushing, screening, sorting by hydraulic machines and washing with high pressure water, resulting into emergence of concentrate in terms of Chapter Note 4 to Ch....
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.... been explained. Rule 3(d) of Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988 defines "beneficiation". The said rule reads as under: "4.5 Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988. 3. Definitions.- In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires - 3(d) "beneficiation" means process of minerals or ores for the purpose of (i) Regulating the size of a desired produce; (ii) Removing unwanted constituents; and (iii) Improving quality, purity or assay grade of desired product." 25. Therefore, it was held that any process, which is done for the purpose of regulating size of desired produce, removal of unwanted constituents and improving quality, purity or assay grade of desired product, would be treated as beneficiation process. The Tribunal also relied on the decision in the case of VV Minerals Vs CC [2016 (332) ELT 888 (Tri)], wherein the Tribunal has relied on the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Tata Steel Ltd Vs UOI [2015 (3) SCALE 759], wherein, the Hon'ble Supreme Court examined the question as to what the consequence of beneficiation is and observed very briefly that the consequence of ben....
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....to 5%. For use in Blast furnace for steel making, we require clean coal of uniform quality at low ash %. So, Beneficiation of ROM raw coal is done to reduce the ash content to bring up to Steel Grade coal. ROM coal of various seams at coal mine is fed into the Coal washery (Beneficiation plant) for beneficiation so that the final clean coal product has ash of below 15% (Steel Grade coal). For coal beneficiation, gravity separation methods for coarser (size 13 mm to 0.5 mm) material and froth floatation method for finer material (size < 0.5mm) are done. So, before beneficiation, the raw coal is crushed into size below 13 mm at Coal Handling Plant (Crushing Plant). The coarse material i.e. size from 13 mm to 0.5 mm is treated in dense media cyclone whereas, less than 0.5 mm is treated by froth floatation method. As beneficiation is a wet process hence, it increases the moisture percentage of beneficiated coal by around 8% to 15%. After beneficiation, apart from the clean coal (required in Blast furnace for Steel making), we also get Coal by-products named as, middling (ash 40-45%), Tailings (ash 40-45%) and Rejects (ash 6065%). The product....
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....trates. Ministry of Mines have clarified that no special treatment is involved in the crushing and screening of ore and the end-product can be termed as a concentrate only when the grade of ore is sufficiently improved through beneficiation. Federation of Indian Mineral Industries have also pointed out that several processes (in addition to crushing and screening) such as milling, hydraulic separation, magnetic separation, floatation & Concentrate thickening have to be undertaken for ores to be converted into concentrate. 3. Hence it is clarified that the levy of excise duty is attracted only in cases where the product meets the definition of concentrate as per HSN Notes, that is, 'ores which have had part or all of the foreign matter removed by special treatments either because such foreign matter may hamper subsequent metallurgical operations or with a view to economical transport'." The above clarification covers the appellant's export product which is covered under 2614. The above circular and the ratio of the Hon'ble Apex Court and High Court decisions (supra) are squarely applicable to the present case. The department relying on the Tribunal decision in the ....
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....rovision, there was no necessity to conduct any test as long as it is established and admitted that certain activities were undertaken on ROM ore before it was shipped to India. The only issue that required to be seen is that whether these activities undertaken prior to its shipment could be considered as process leading to removal of impurities and foreign material so as to make it suitable for metallurgical purposes or for economical transportation. It is also not necessary that it should be some detailed process involving physical, physio-chemical and chemical operations, as even simple physical process like washing, crushing, sizing, etc., depending on requirement and the nature of ore, would enhance its value and purity and compatibility with intended end use. In all these appeals, it is not in dispute that they have received ore of certain concentration and admittedly they are above 35%. The scheme of classification of Manganese ore is that Chapter Heading 2602 00, which covers both Manganese ore and concentrates, including ferruginous manganese ores and concentrates with a manganese content of 20% or more, calculated on dry weight. The scheme is reproduced below: Tariff I....