Input tax credit limitation for construction activities leaves telecom tower foundation eligibility open to interpretative dispute under GST.
Section 17 denies input tax credit for works contract services and construction-related goods or services on immovable property, except when such supplies qualify as inputs for plant and machinery. The statutory definition includes apparatus, equipment, machinery, pipelines and telecommunication towers fixed by foundation or structural support and expressly includes such foundations and supports while excluding land, building and other civil structures. This creates an ambiguity whether the inclusion of foundation and structural support applies only to telecommunication towers or to all listed plant and machinery, a question with competing textual and purposive arguments and significant implications for credit eligibility. (AI Summary)