SC Allows Cenvat Credit on Goods Used for Maintenance of Plant & Machinery

Centax Editorial Board

March 5, 2026

• 4 min. read

Cenvat credit on maintenance of plant machinery

Case Details: Kisan Cooperative Sugar Factory Ltd. vs. Commissioner, Central Excise Meerut-1 (2026) 40 Centax 15 (S.C.)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

B.V. Nagarathna & Ujjal Bhuyan, JJ.
S/Shri N. Venkatraman, ASG, Arijit Prasad, Sr. Adv., Rupesh Kumar, V.C. Bharathi, Rohit Verma, Kamal Kishore, H.R. Rao, Mrs B. Sunita Rao, Mrs Nisha Bagchi, Raghav Sharma, Mahesh Agarwal, Rishi Agrawala, Ankur Saigal, Alok Yadav, Ms Chitra Agarwal, Ms Manavi Agarwal, Ms Divya Singh, Ujjwal A. Rana, Himanshu Mehta, Sanjay Grover, K.V. Mohan, Shivlal Singh, K.V. Balakrishnan, Nikhil Swami, Ms Divya Swami, D.K. Garg, Abhishek Garg, Ishaan Tiwari, Chibber, Sadre Alam, Sanjay Grover, Shivlal Singh, Keshav Sharma, Praveen Agnihotri, Siddharth Singh, Devrat, Advs. & Prakash Kumar Singh, Ms Charanya Lakshmikumaran, Pankaj Bhagat, M.P. Devanath, Rajesh Kumar, Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Mrs Prabha Swami, Vikas Singh Jangra, Dhananjay Garg, B. Krishna Prasad, K.V. Mohan, E.C. Agrawala, AORs, M/S. Gagrat & Co., for the Appellant.
S/Shri N. Venkataraman, A.S.G. & Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Harish Pandey, Mrigank Prabhakar, B. Krishna Prasad, Anand Sukumar, Krishnamohan K., Arvind Gupta, Shibu Devasia Olickal, Mrs Anil Katiyar, Ms Charanya Lakshmikumaran, Ms Praveena Gautam, M/S. AP & J Chambers, M/s. Khaitan & Co., M/S. Axess Legal Corp, AORs, Vikram S. Nankani, Sr. Adv. & Ms Reena Asthana Khair, Pawan Shukla, Ms Akanksha Tyagi, Naresh Thacker, Kumar Visalaksh, Udit Jain, Arijit Prasad, V.C. Bharathi, H.R. Rao, Rupesh Kumar, Kamal Kishore, Ms B. Sunita Rao, Ms Parul Sachdeva, Ms Dania Nayyar, K.S. Naveen Kumar, R. Dakshina Murthy, S. Sukumaran, Bhupesh Kumar Pathak, Mrs Ruche Anand, L. Kartikeyan, Mrs Suman Sharma, Brahma Prakash, Ms Nazish Fatima, Mrs. Vanita Bhargava, Ajay Bhargava, Ms Nikitha Shenoy, Ms Apekasha Mehta, Ms Neha Choudhary, Ms Falguni Gupta, Ms Umang Motiyani, M.P. Devanath, Vikas Singh Jhangra, Advs., for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The appellants had availed Modvat/Cenvat credit of duty on certain goods such as welding electrodes, paint, varnish, MS plates and jointing sheets used within the factory for repair, maintenance, fabrication and upkeep of capital goods forming part of the plant and machinery. The department disputed the eligibility of such credit, and proceedings arose concerning the admissibility of credit on items used for the maintenance of plant and machinery. It was contended that these goods were used in the process connected with the manufacture of finished goods. The dispute required the interpretation of the expression ‘used in or in relation to manufacture’ under the relevant rules governing Modvat/Cenvat credit. The matter was accordingly placed before the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Held

The Hon’ble Supreme Court held that the expression ‘used in or in relation to manufacture’ must be interpreted in a very wide manner so as to cover all items used in the process of manufacture, whether directly or indirectly, and whether contained in the final product or not. It was observed that items used for the maintenance of plant and machinery are also items used in the manufacture of finished goods. The Court considered the provisions of Rule 57B read with Rules 57A and 57Q of the erstwhile Central Excise Rules, 1944 and Rule 2(k) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004. It was therefore concluded that credit on items used for maintenance, repair, upkeep or fabrication of plant and machinery is admissible to the assessees. Accordingly, the appeals were allowed in favour of the assessees.

List of Cases Cited

Chowgule & Co. Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India — 1993 (67) E.L.T. 34 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 18]
Collector v. Escorts Mahle Ltd. — 2003 (154) E.L.T. 321 (SC) — Relied on [Para 18]
Collector v. Hindustan Sanitaryware & Industries — 2002 (145) E.L.T. 3 (SC) — Relied on [Para 18]
Collector v. Rajasthan State Chemical Works — 1991 (55) E.L.T. 444 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 18]
Commissioner v. Birla Jute & Inds. Ltd. — 2002 (139) E.L.T. A93 (S.C) — Referred [Para 12]
Commissioner v. Birla Jute and Industries Limited — 2001 (135) E.L.T. 280 (Tri.-Del.) — Referred [Para 12]
Commissioner v. Jawaha Mills Limited — 2001 (132) E.L.T. 3 (SC) — Referred [Para 12]
Doypack Systems Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India — 1988 (36) E.L.T. 201 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 18]
Hindustan Zinc Ltd. v. Union of India — 2008 (228) ELT 517 (Raj.) — Referred [Para 12]
Indian Copper Corporation Limited v. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes — AIR 1965 SC 891 — Relied on [Para 18]
Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited v. Collector — 1996 (86) E.L.T. 177 (S.C.) — Relied on [Paras 10, 18]
Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Ltd. v. Collector — 1991 (51) E.L.T. 527 (Tri.-Delhi) — Referred [Paras 9, 10]
J.K. Cotton Spinning & Weaving Mills Co. Ltd. v. Sales Tax Officer — 1997 (91) E.L.T. 34 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 18]
Jawahar Mills Limited v. Commissioner — 1999 (108) E.L.T. 47 (Tri.-Delhi) — Referred [Para 12]
Jayaswal Neco Ltd. v. Commissioner — 2015 (319) E.L.T. 247 (SC) — Relied on [Para 18]
Jaypee Rewa Cement v. Commissioner — 2001 (133) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 18]
Member, Board of Revenue v. Phelps & Co. (P) Ltd. — (1972) 4 SCC 121 — Relied on [Para 18]
Ramala Sahkari Chini Mills Limited vs. Commissioner — 2016 (334) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.) — Referred [Para 12]
Ramala Sahkari Chini Mills Ltd. v. Commissioner — 2010 (260) E.L.T. 321 (S.C.) — Referred [Para 12]
Union of India v. Aditya Cement — D.B. Civil Central Excise Appeal No. 5 of 2005, decided on 8-11-2005 by Rajasthan High Court — Referred [Para 12]
Union of India v. Aditya Cement — S.L.P. (C) No. 18641 of 2006, decided on 6.11.2006 by Supreme Court — Referred [Para 12]
Union of India v. Ahmedabad Electricity Co. Ltd. — 2003 (158) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 18]
Union of India v. Hindustan Zinc Ltd. — 2007 (214) E.L.T. 510 (Raj.) — Referred [Para 12]
Vikram Cement v. Commissioner — 2006 (194) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 18]