26.05.2008

When is a crane not a crane

India’s Supreme Court has ruled that second hand cranes imported by Reliance Petroleum from Europa BV of Holland in ‘knocked-down’ condition for work on building an oil refinery are exempt from Customs duty.

Indian Customs authorities had questioned the application of exemption notifications for two shipments of second hand mobile cranes, maintaining that a crane when placed on a vehicle was a motor vehicle and should be classified as a mobile crane or material handling equipment, and thus was not eligible for concessional duty.

The court rejected these contentions and stated that the crane imported by the company in the knockdown condition would attract the benefit of the exemption under the notifications.