The Appellant in the business of supplying of mango pulp/puree within India including merchant export.

The manufacturing process of mango pulp/puree is detailed hereunder:

The Appellant procures selected varieties of fresh mango fruits and transport them to the fruit processing plant. The fruits are inspected, graded, washed and sent to the controlled ripening chambers. The fully Ripened Mango Fruits are then washed, blanched, pulped, deseeded, centrifuged, homogenized, and thermally processed. The preparation process includes cutting, de-stoning, refining and packing. The refined pulp/puree is packed in cans, hermetically sealed and retorted. Such extracted Mango Pulp/Puree will be sold by the applicant.

The Appellant sought clarification with regard to classification of the product and the rate payable thereon. The Appellant had filed an application for Advance Ruling before the Authority for Advance Ruling on the following questions:

Can the Mango Pulp/puree be treated as fresh fruit and exemption be claimed on it? If not whether the mango pulp/puree falls under the heading 20079910 or 0804 or 2008?

What is the rate of tax payable on outward supplies of Mango fruit Pulp/ Puree under the GST Act?

The Authority for Advance Ruling Andhra Pradesh in its orders in AAR No.16/AP/GST/2021 dated 07.07.2021 held: Mango Pulp/Puree shall neither be treated as a fresh fruit nor be classified under headings 20079910 or 0804 or 2008. ‘Mango pulp/puree`, under the entry no. 453 of Schedule-III of Notification No.1/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dt: 28.06.2017 attracts the tax rate of 18%.

Aggrieved by the impugned order, the appellant has filed the present appeal on the following grounds.

he Appellant submits that the product Mango Pulp is specifically covered under Chapter Heading 0804. However, the present product is not merely fresh fruit or dried fruit. As already submitted, the mango pulp is processed by pre-heating the product to the tune of 60 to 80 degrees and also sterilized before packing. In view of the above, the Appellant alternatively requested the classification of the product under Chapter Heading 2007 in view of the following contentions

The product exported by the Appellant is classified by the Customs under Chapter Heading 2007. Therefore, the product under question specifically gets covered under the Chapter Heading 2007 as Fruit Puree obtained by cooking. In view of the above, the product is liable to be classified under 2007 9910

The contention of the original authority is not proper since the Chapter Heading 2007 itself covers fruit paste and thus, there is no scope for the said paste to exclude from the purview of Chapter 2007.

The Appellant submits that Chapter Note 2 to Chapter 20 excludes fruit jellies, fruit pastes, sugar coated almonds etc. which are in the form of sugar confectionery. In the instant case, the mango pulp/puree is not sugar confectionery and thus, the exclusion clause is not applicable as sought. Hence, there is error in considering the Chapter Note 2 Moreover, since mango pulp and puree are one and the same product, it is classifiable under Chapter Heading 2007

The Appellant submits that the product is classifiable under Chapter Heading 2007 and consequently, chargeable to GST (3) 12% in terms of SI.No.39 of Schedule II to Notification No.1/2017-CT (Rate) dated 28-6-2017. In view of the above, the rate of 18% as held by the Advance Ruling Authority is not legally correct and proper