Case Law Details
Commissioner of Customs Vs BDG Metal & Power Ltd. (CESTAT Kolkata)
CESTAT Kolkata held that benefit of notification no. 4/2006-CE dated 01.03.2006 is available on imported manganese ore lumps, crushed, screened, washed having ‘Mn’ content of 43%/45% (approx).
Facts- M/s. BDG Metal and Power Ltd. imported manganese ore lumps, crushed, screened, washed with manganese content of 43%/45% approximately vide seven and three Bills of Entry during the period July to October 2011. The said Bills of Entry were assessed finally at NIL rate of CVD under notification no. 4/2006-CE dated 01.03.2006 and were cleared for home consumption thereafter. Department contended that the manganese ore imported by the respondent importer was concentrate and therefore the imported goods were not eligible for benefit of CVD under notification no. 4/2006-CE dated 01.03.2006
Commissioner (Appeals) held that the appellant in the present matter was eligible for the benefit of Notification 4/2006-CE dated 01.03.2006. being aggrieved, revenue has preferred the present appeal.
Conclusion- In the instant case the appellant has imported “Manganese Ore Lumps, crushed, screened, washed having ‘Mn’ content of 43%/45% (approx)” and the lower authority did not dispute the item to be ‘Ore’. The physical processes of crushing, screening and washing in any way are not such as would contribute to enriching the Manganese percentage in the natural product mined. That as we have noticed in the Apex Court’s decision cited in para 8 supra is undertaken by processing the mined products in a Concentrator Plant. The imported goods have certainly not been subjected to any operation in the Concentrator Plant prior to their import. The various modes of Ore Dressing could include handpicking, sorting, screening, washing, jigging, magnetic separation, crushing, grinding, etc. By way of these processes there is no change in the chemical composition and properties of a mined product. The operations carried out before and after processing/dressing are only to make it saleable and for ease of handling in transport. It is important to point out that mineral/dressing of ore cannot be said to leading to formation of a concentrate.
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