Facts –

• The Applicant, HPL Electric and Power Ltd.,has entered into an agreement with M/s. Adani Infra (India) Ltd. (‘AIIL’) for providing services for ‘design, engineering, supply, testing at site, freight and transit insurance, erection, installation and commissioning and trial run of Highway Lighting System for the project of development, maintenance and management of honing of Bilaspur to Pathrapali.

Issue – 

• Whether the work undertaken by the applicant is exempted under S.no. 3(v)(a) of Notification No. 11/2017 Central Tax (Rate) dated 28.06.2017 as amended?

Order – 

• The AAR observed that the work undertaken by the applicant in entirety, as elaborately discussed herein is nothing but electrical “Installation services” of illumination for roads and by no stretch of imagination can be termed as civil engineering works.
• Thus the instant work entrusted upon the applicant is electrical “Installation services” of high way lighting system arbitrarily and artificially extending and expanding the ambit of said independent services of “installation services” of highway lighting system to “construction services” of roads appears to be an afterthought to avail be benefit of exemption as provided under S.no. 3(v)(a) of Notification No. 11/2017 Central Tax (Rate) dated 28.06.2017 as amended, vide Notification 01/2018 Central Tax (Rate) dated 25.01.2018, which otherwise stands ineligible.
• The claimed benefit of Notification supra, is available to construction services of road per se and cannot be artificially expanded to the instant subject matter of electrical “installation services” of high way lighting system for illumination of roads.
• Hence, the aforementioned supply to be made by the applicant merits classification as “installation services”, being electrical installation service of illumination for roads. The applicant is ineligible for the benefit of tax rate @12% as stipulated under entry no. 3(iv)(a) of Notification No.11/2017 as amended vide Notification 3/2019 effective from 01 April 2019 as the basic requirement for eligibility to the said exemption as provided under Sno. 3(iv)(a) of Notification No. 11/2017 of being “construction service” under heading 9954 supplied by way of construction of a road, stands unfulfilled.