In re Gujarat State Road Development Corporation ltd. (GST AAR Gujarat)
Although the applicant has paid the required fees of Rs.10,000/- as required, they have not filed the application in the prescribed format of GST-ARA-01 required as per the provisions of aforementioned Sections and Rules. Therefore, the instant application is liable for rejection under Section 98(2) of the CGST Act, 2017 for not filing the application in proper FORM GST-ARA-1 as required under the provisions of CGST Act and Rules and respective GGST Act & Rules.
In view of the facts mentioned above, we do not find it necessary to delve into the details or facts of the issue in hand since the applicant has failed to comply even with the statutory requirements of the provisions of the relevant sections and rules of the CGST Act, 2017/GGST Act, 2017 as well as the CGST Rules, 2017/GGST Rules, 2017 with regard to filing the application of Advance Ruling before the Advance Ruling Authority, thus rendering it an invalid application for Advance Ruling under Section 97(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 read with Rule 104 of the CGST Rules, 2017.
FULL TEXT OF ORDER OF AUTHORITY OF ADVANCE RULING, GUJARAT
The applicant M/s. Gujarat State Road Development Corporation ltd., Ground floor, Nirman Bhavan, Sector-10A, Gandhinagar-382010 has submitted that the Government of Gujarat, in order to have a developed, efficient and high quality system of road transportation, had formulated a ‘Road Policy’ on December, 1996 (“Policy”), to be implemented by the Roads and Building Department, GOG. The Policy enables private participation in the development, construction, repair, upgradation, management, operation and maintenance of roads within the State of Gujarat.
2. The applicant has further submitted that in furtherance of the policy, the Government of Gujarat enacted the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Act, 1999 (Gujarat Act No.11 of 1999) (“GID Act”) to provide a regulatory framework for participation of the private sector in financing, construction, maintenance, development and operation of infrastructure projects on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis in the State of Gujarat; that vide item 2 of Schedule I of the GID Act, roads, bridges and bypasses are the eligible infrastructure projects that allow private sector participation; that in this regard, Government of Gujarat established and set up Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) and GSRDC in consonance with Gujarat Infrastructure Development Act, 1999(Gujarat Act No.11 of 1999) (GID Act), with the object to invite private sector participation for the development, construction, repair, upgradation, management, operation and maintenance of the aforesaid infrastructure development projects within the State of Gujarat.
3. The applicant has submitted that they are a wholly owned Government of Gujarat company (i.e. 100% equity ownership and control held by Government of Gujarat) established under the Companies Act, 1956 represented by its Managing Director, hereinafter called as GSRDC; that they are having their principal place of business at Ground Floor, Nirman Bhavan, Sector 10-A, Gandhinagar i.e. in the State of Gujarat. The applicant has further submitted that the main object of the GSRDC is to act as an independent and autonomous body for the construction and development of the roads (state highway) and bridges as a part of the activities of the Roads and Buildings (R&B), Department of Government of Gujarat under the BOT, BOOT or BOLT project; that GSRDC is also required to facilitate, regulate and control the use of roads, bridges and flyovers etc. and to advice the R&B Department of Government of Gujarat on all the issues relating to roads and assist in formulation of policies in this regard; that GSRDC intends to develop 8 road projects under Public Private Partnership and that it seeks participation from private operators for the said projects to provide superior quality road infrastructure at competitive prices.
4. The applicant has submitted that Pure services provided to the Central Government, State Government or Union territory or local authority or a Governmental Authority or a Government Entity has been exempted vide Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28.06.2017, at Entry No.3 which reads as under:
