M/S NESTLE INDIA LTD. vs COMMNR. OF CENTRAL EXCISE, CHANDIGARH

The Supreme Court held that the process of mixing various vitamins to create an 'intermixture of vitamins' constitutes 'manufacture' under Section 2(f) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, as it involves a process that alters the original properties of the ingredients, thereby creating a new product. The Court affirmed the applicability of Note 11 to Chapter 29 of the Central Excise Tariff, which states that such processes amount to manufacture. Consequently, the assessee was liable to pay excise duty on the intermixture produced for use in infant foods.