9911796707
TMI Blog2023 (8) TMI 1555X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uling have changed. 4. Advance Ruling obtained by the applicant by fraud or suppression of material facts or misrepresentation of facts, shall render such ruling to be void ab-initio in accordance with Section 104 of the Act. 5. At the outset, we would like to make it clear that the provisions of both the Central Goods and Service Tax Act and the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act are the same except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the Central Goods and Service Tax Act would also mean a reference to the same provisions under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. M/s Sirupooluvapatti Common Effluent Treatment Plant Private Limited, SF No. 632, Athuvazhi Thottam, Sirupooluvapatti Post, Tirupur, Pin.: 641 603 (hereinafter called as the 'Applicant') is registered under the GST Acts with GSTIN: 33AAJCS8719E1Z8. 2.0. In their application for Advance Ruling, the Applicant has stated, inter-alia, the following as their nature of activity proposed: (i) the Applicant is a common effluent treatment plant, set up by the various dyeing units in that area; (ii) the Applicant is pla ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n it is treated with sodium meta bi-sulphate/sodium this sulphate to remove traces of chlorine. Then it enters the filtration system such Pressure sand filter, Micro filter, which remove suspended solids, turbidity and fines, organic, odour from effluent. * The output product is collected in the reverse osmosis feed tank. The treated effluent is fed into three stage(I,II,III) RO system for removal of dissolved inorganic salts and 80 to 85% of water will be recovered as reusable water. Additional fourth phase (IV) and fifth phase(V) of RO treatment is done through micron cartridge filter for desalination. RO IV & V reject is treated with Lime soda process in a Clarifier-I for hardness removal and pH correction then taken through RO VI through micro filtration for further concentration. * Final RO VI reject is treated through MEE-1, MEE-2, MEE-3 for further concentration and portion to Brine solution preparation. The MEE-1 concentrate and the MEE-2 mother liquor are sent to Brine solution preparation. Remaining RO VI reject is treated in MEE-2 & MEE-3 for further concentration and where the salt is crystallized and removed pusher centrifuge. The mother liquor from MEE-3 is dried ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... trode ionization or membrane filtration technologies in order to create ultrapure water. In this process, removal of virtually all ionic mineral contaminants from water, so that resultant water has sufficient purity for variety of industrial applications. * The water usually contains positively charged ions as Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Copper, Sodium and Potassium and also negatively charged ions as Chloride, Carbonate, Sulphate, Bi-carbonate, Nitrate etc. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a process where water is demineralized by flowing under pressure through a semi-permeable membrane. The outlet of MF product is serially fed to 7 stage RO system through Micron Cartridge filter for demineralization. The inlet Total Dissolved Solids (TDS - Minerals) of RO system is around 10,000 mg/1. On demineralizing, the ETP recovers 93% of demineralized water, which is fit for reuse. * The TDS of demineralized water is 400 mg/1 only. The TDS of 7th stage RO system reject water is 1,50,000 mg/l. Some of the minerals, the percentage of which is present in RO feed and RO recovered is given below: Sl.No. Minerals RO Feed RO Recovered water RO Reject 1 PH 6.5 5.9 7.6 2 TDS mg/1 10000 150000 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ills pertaining to the same. 5.0. The State jurisdictional authority furnished the following report, wherein regarding taxability of the treated water, they have stated that * Regarding classification of Treated water", "Treated water" find no place in Customs Tariff. The principal supply done by the assessee is supply by way of treatment of effluents by a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (SAC-9994). It is evident that the taxpayer is only purifying the water containing the dye impurities and no change of nature of goods involved in this process. Hence, it is purely a service only. * As per the Government of India Notification No.1/ 2018 Central Tax (Rate) dated 25.01.2018, it was notified that "Services by way of treatment of effluents by a Common Effluent Treatment Plant" is taxable at 6% CGST & 6% SGST in total rate of tax is 12% (SAC-9994). Hence the classification of the supply of output as sale of goods is not correct. As per the Government of India Notification No. 1 / 2018 Central Tax (Rate) dated 25.01.2018, it was notified that "Services by way of treatment of effluents by a Common Effluent Treatment Plant" is taxable at 6% CGST & 6% SGST in total rate of tax is 12%. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... have proposed to purchase effluent water from the member unit and after treating the same they propose to supply the resultant products to their member units so as to classify their activities as supply of goods. 6.6 From the various submissions of the Applicant both during the personal hearing and written submissions, it is clear that the applicant seeks to purchase the raw effluent and proposes to treat the same. The applicant proposes to sell the resultant products at market rates. 6.7 The first question to be examined is what is the appropriate classification of the treated water that would be sold by the Applicant, after carrying out various treatment process on the effluent water purchased by them'. The Applicant is of the view that the treated water recovered is demineralized water, which is classifiable under HSN 2201 and is liable for GST rate of 18% under S.No.24 of Schedule III of Notification No.01/2017-CT(Rate) dated 28.06.2017 and the benefit of exemption from payment of GST as per Sl.No.99 of Notification NO.02/2017-CT(Rate) dated 28.06.2017, cannot be claimed by them. 6.8 In this context, the Applicant has referred the advance rulings pronounced in the follo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g matter nor flavoured; Ice and snow, this heading covers; (A) Ordinary natural water of all kinds (other than sea water see heading 25.01). Such waters remain in the heading, whether or not clarified or purified, except that distilled or conductivity water and water of similar purity are classified in heading 28.53. The heading excludes sweetened or flavoured water (heading 22.02) B Mineral Waters, whether natural or artificial Natural mineral waters contain mineral salts or gases. The composition of these waters varies considerably and they are generally classified according to the chemical characteristics or their salts, e.g.: (1) Alkaline waters (2) Sulphated waters (3) Halide waters (4) Sulphuretted waters (5) Ferruginous waters Such natural mineral waters may also contain natural or added carbon dioxide. Artificial mineral waters are prepared from ordinary potable water by adding the active principles (mineral salts or gases) present in the corresponding natural waters SO as to produce waters of the same properties. (C) Aerated Waters (carbonated waters), i.e. ordinary potable waters charged with carbon dioxide gas under pressure. They are o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cted to micro-filtration and sand filtration process to remove suspended impurities. They have then used a series of RO units for removing minerals. In spite of the RO treatment, the TDS of the treated water is higher, which can be seen from the test report. As per the report furnished by The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) Textile Testing and Service Centre, test report No. V2300306 dated 09.08.2023 of Sample given for testing, in the case of the Applicant, it is seen that the recovered water contains chlorides, sulphates, Bicarbonates, etc. The TDS levels of the treated water as per the test report is 616 mg/1, which clearly shows the treated water is not demineralized as per the standard norms. From the above, it is clear that treated water cannot be construed as de-mineralized water. 6.15. As already discussed, treated water will not fit into sl.No.24 of Notification No.01/2017-CT(Rate) dated 28.06.2017. Also treated water is not demineralized water as claimed by them but water, without any special characters as indicated in the tariff entries. 6.16. Sl.No.99 entry in Notification No. 2/2017 Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June 2017, includes ordinary water and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ive cooling system, sterilization, laboratory application, car battery etc. The treated water in the present case would not fit into any of the above mentioned in the exclusion clause. 6.21. In a similar issue, the AAAR, Maharashtra, in it its ruling MAH/AAAR/AN- RM/02/2022-23, dated 01.04.2022 in the case of M/s. Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd., has held that as the water coming out from Sewage Treatment Plant still contains organic and inorganic substances, such as suspended particles, grit, clays, pollutants like nitrogen, phosphorus, etc. is not pure due to presence of the said impurities and foreign elements and therefore will be eligible for exemption in terms of entry at Sl. No. 99 of Notification No. 02/2017, CT (Rate), dt.28.06.2017. 6.22. In this regard, it is observed that the process carried out by the Applicant involves conversion of effluent water into treated water to make it suitable for reuse by the member units. At the same time, the treated water cannot be put into any other usage, as the same is not completely free of impurities, bacteria and other harmful micro-organisms and chemicals. 6.23. The above facts reiterate that the ultimate intention behind ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
