In re Purnam Cuisines Pvt Ltd (GST AAR Gujarat)
Purnam Cuisines Pvt Ltd, a company involved in the supply of peeled and chopped garlic, sought an advance ruling from the Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) regarding the classification and GST liability of their product. The company’s process involves purchasing raw garlic bulbs, followed by quality inspection, moisture removal, crushing, peeling, sorting, chopping, and packing. Purnam Cuisines contended that these processes resulted in a “new product” with a distinct name—”chopped garlic”—and therefore amounted to manufacturing. They proposed that the chopped garlic, having undergone these processes, should be classified under Customs Tariff Heading (CTH) 2005 (other vegetables prepared or preserved) and be subject to 12% GST.
The AAR addressed two key questions: the classification of peeled, chopped, and packed garlic, and the requirement for GST discharge. The Authority declined to rule on whether the activity constituted “manufacture,” citing that this question falls outside the scope of matters on which an advance ruling can be sought under Section 97(2) of the CGST Act, 2017. Regarding classification, the AAR referred to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, and its explanatory notes. Chapter 07, Heading 0703, covers “Onions, shallots, garlic, leeks and other alliaceous vegetables, fresh or chilled.” The explanatory notes for Chapter 07 explicitly state that vegetables in this chapter may be “whole, sliced, chopped, shredded, pulped, grated, peeled or shelled.”
