The Central Excise Act, 1944

1[(1) This Act may be called the Central Excise Act,1944.] (2) It extends to the whole of India 2[* * *]. (3) It shall come into force on such date3as the Central Government may, by notification in the OfficialGazette, appoint in this behalf.

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-- 1[(a) "adjudicating authority" means any authority competent to pass any order or decision underthis Act, but does not include the Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the CentralBoards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963) 2[Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) or AppellateTribunal;] (aa) "Appellate Tribunal" means the Customs, Excise and 3[Service Tax] Appellate Tribunalconstituted under Section 129 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);] 4[(aaa)] "broker" or "commission agent" means a person who in the ordinary course of businessmakes contracts for the sale or purchase of excisable goods for others; 5[(b) "Central Excise Officer" means the 6[Principal Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, ChiefCommissioner of Central Excise, Principal Commissioner of Central Excise], Commissioner of CentralExcise (Appeals), Additional Commissioner of Central Excise, 7[Joint Commissioner of CentralExcise,] 8[Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise] orany other officer of the Central Excise Department, or any person (including an officer of the StateGovernment) invested by the Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the CentralBoards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963) with any of the powers of a Central Excise Officer underthis Act;] (c) "curing" includes wilting, drying, fermenting and any process for rendering an unmanufacturedproduct fit for marketing or manufacture; (d) "excisable goods" means goods specified in 9[the Fourth Schedule] as being subject to a dutyof excise10and includes salt; 11[Explanation.-- For the purposes of this clause, "goods" includes any article, material or substancewhich is capable of being bought and sold for a consideration and such goods shall be deemed to bemarketable.] (e) "factory" means any premises, including the precincts thereof, wherein or in any part of whichexcisable goods 12[* * *] are manufactured, or wherein or in any part of which any manufacturingprocess connected with the production of these goods is being carried on or is ordinarily carried on; 13[(ee) "Fund" means the Consumer Welfare Fund established under Section 12C;] 14[(f) "manufacture" includes any process-- (i) incidental or ancillary to the completion of a manufactured product; (ii) which is specified in relation to any goods in the Section or Chapter Notes of 15[the FourthSchedule] as amounting to 16[manufacture ;or], 17[(iii) which, in relation to the goods specified in the Third Schedule, involves packing orrepacking of such goods in a unit container or labelling or re-labelling of containers including thedeclaration or alteration of retail sale price on it or adoption of any other treatment on the goods torender the product marketable to the consumer;] and the word "manufacture" shall be construed accordingly and shall include not only a personwho employs hired labour in the production or manufacture of excisable goods, but also any personwho engages in their production or manufacture on his own account;] 18[(ff) "National Tax Tribunal" means the National Tax Tribunal established under Section 3 of theNational Tax Tribunal Act, 2005 (49 of 2005);] (g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (h) "sale" and "purchase", with their grammatical variations and cognate expressions, mean anytransfer of the possession of goods by one person to another in the ordinary course of trade or businessfor cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration; (i)19[* * *] (j)20[* * *] (jj)21[* * *] (k) "wholesale dealer" means a person who buys or sells excisable goods wholesale for the purposeof trade or manufacture, and includes a broker or commission agent, who, in addition to makingcontracts for the sale or purchase of excisable goods for others, stocks such goods belonging to othersas an agent for the purpose of sale.

1[2A. References of certain expressions.-- In this Act, save as otherwise expressly provided andunless the context otherwise requires, references to the expressions "duty", "duties", "duty of excise" and"duties of excise" shall be construed to include a reference to "Central Value Added Tax (CENVAT)".]

1]3. Duty specified in the Fourth Schedule to be levied.-- (1) There shall be levied and collected insuch manner as may be prescribed a duty of excise to be called the Central Value Added Tax (CENVAT)on all excisable goods (excluding goods produced or manufactured in special economic zones) which areproduced or manufactured in India as, and at the rates, set forth in the Fourth Schedule: Provided that the duty of excise which shall be levied and collected on any excisable goods whichare produced or manufactured by a hundred per cent export oriented undertaking and brought to anyother place in India, shall be an amount equal to the aggregate of the duties of customs which would beleviable under the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) or any other law for the time being in force, on likegoods produced or manufactured outside India if imported into India, and where the said duties ofcustoms are chargeable by reference to their value, the value of such excisable goods shall,notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, be determined in accordancewith the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975). Explanation 1.-- Where in respect of any such like goods, any duty of customs leviable for the timebeing in force is leviable at different rates, then, such duty shall, for the purposes of this proviso, be deemedto be leviable at the highest of those rates. Explanation 2.-- For the purposes of this sub-section,-- (i) "hundred per cent export-oriented undertaking” means an undertaking which has been approvedas a hundred per cent export-oriented undertaking by the board appointed in this behalf by the CentralGovernment in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 14 of the Industries (Development andRegulation) Act, 1951 (65 of 1951), and the rules made under that Act; (ii) "Special Economic Zone" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (za) of Section 2 ofthe Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (28 of 2005). (2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply in respect of all excisable goods which are producedor manufactured in India by or on behalf of the Government, as they apply in respect of goods which arenot produced or manufactured by the Government. (3) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, fix, for the purposes of levyingthe said duty, tariff values of any articles enumerated, either specifically or under general headings, in theFourth Schedule as chargeable with duty ad valorem and may alter any tariff values for the time being inforce. (4) The Central Government may fix different tariff values-- (a) for different classes or descriptions of the same excisable goods; or (b) for excisable goods of the same class or description-- (i) produced or manufactured by different classes of producers or manufacturers; or (ii) sold to different classes of buyers: Provided that in fixing different tariff values in respect of excisable goods falling undersub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii), regard shall be had to the sale prices charged by the different classesof producers or manufacturers or, as the case may be, the normal practice of the wholesale trade in suchgoods.[

1[3A. Power of Central Government to charge excise duty on the basis of capacity of productionin respect of notified goods.-- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 3, where the CentralGovernment, having regard to the nature of the process of manufacture or production of excisable goods ofany specified description, the extent of evasion of duty in regard to such goods or such other factors as maybe relevant, is of the opinion that it is necessary to safeguard the interest of revenue, specify, by notificationin the Official Gazette, such goods as notified goods and there shall be levied and collected duty of exciseon such goods in accordance with the provisions of this section. (2) Where a notification is issued under sub-section (1), the Central Government may, by rules,-- (a) provide the manner for determination of the annual capacity of production of the factory, inwhich such goods are produced, by an officer not below the rank of Assistant 2[Principal Commissionerof Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise and such annual capacity shall be deemed to bethe annual production of such goods by such factory; or (b)(i) specify the factor relevant to the production of such goods and the quantity that is deemed tobe produced by use of a unit of such factor; and (ii) provide for the determination of the annual capacity of production of the factory in which suchgoods are produced on the basis of such factor by an officer not below the rank of Assistant 2[PrincipalCommissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise] and such annual capacity ofproduction shall be deemed to be the annual production of such goods by such factory: Provided that where a factory producing notified goods is in operation during a part of the yearonly, the annual production thereof shall be calculated on proportionate basis of the annual capacity ofproduction: Provided further that in a case where the factor relevant to the production is altered or modified atany time during the year, the annual production shall be re-determined on a proportionate basis havingregard to such alteration or modification. (3) The duty of excise on notified goods shall be levied, at such rate, on the unit of production or, asthe case may be, on such factor relevant to the production, as the Central Government may, by notificationin the Official Gazette, specify, and collected in such manner as may be prescribed:Provided that where a factory producing notified goods did not produce the notified goods during anycontinuous period of fifteen days or more, the duty calculated on a proportionate basis shall be abated inrespect of such period if the manufacturer of such goods fulfils such conditions as may be prescribed. (4) The provisions of this section shall not apply to goods produced or manufactured, by a hundred percent export-oriented undertaking and brought to any other place in India. Explanation 1.-- For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that for the purposes of Section 3 ofthe Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), the duty of excise leviable on the notified goods shall be deemedto be the duty of excise leviable on such goods under the 3[Fourth Schedule, read with any notification forthe time being in force. Explanation 2.-- For the purposes of this section, the expression hundred per cent export-orientedundertaking" shall have the meaning assigned to it in Section 3. 4[Explanation 3.-- For the purposes of sub-sections (2) and (3), the word "factor" includes "factors".]]