Tamil Nadu Authority for Advance Ruling: In an application filed by West Pharmaceutical Packaging India Pvt. Ltd. (‘applicant’), the two-Member Bench of B. Susee Kumar (Member-SGST) and Balakrishna S. (Member-CGST) ruled that the applicant was not required to obtain a separate GST registration in Tamil Nadu for its Free Trade Warehousing Zone (‘FTWZ’) unit at Chennai, since all taxable supplies were covered under its existing Telangana registration.
Background
The applicant was engaged in the business of trading “rubber stopper” products for pharmaceutical use which is imported and stored in a Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The goods were cleared for home consumption through an ex-bond bill of entry filed in the name of the buyer whenever a purchase order was identified. Since the applicant was already registered under Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST) in Telangana, it approached the Tamil Nadu Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) seeking clarity on whether such operations would trigger a requirement to obtain a separate Goods and Service Tax (GST) registration in Tamil Nadu.
Issues
Whether the applicant was required to obtain a separate registration under Section 22 of the CGST Act in the State of Tamil Nadu for operations carried out from its FTWZ unit at Chennai?
Analysis
The AAR noted that Section 22 of the CGST Act requires registration in a State only where taxable supplies are made from that State. The Bench emphasized “Registration is mandated when a person makes taxable supplies from a State,” clarifying that mere presence in another State does not itself trigger registration.
The AAR found that the unit functioned as a bonded warehouse within an FTWZ under the SEZ framework. “The operations undertaken from the FTWZ unit do not qualify as outward supplies,” the Bench observed, holding that warehousing and clearance of goods through an FTWZ are logistical steps and not independent taxable events under Section 7 of the CGST Act.
The AAR emphasized that the applicant already held valid GST registration in Telangana, which was its principal place of business. Since all invoicing, contractual obligations, and compliance were tied to Telangana, the Chennai FTWZ was only a warehousing facility and did not give rise to a separate requirement for registration in Tamil Nadu.
Accordingly, the AAR held that since no taxable supplies were made from the Chennai FTWZ, the requirement under Section 22 of the CGST Act was not attracted, and therefore, a separate GST registration in Tamil Nadu was not necessary.
[West Pharmaceutical Packaging India Pvt. Ltd., In re, AAR No. 22/ARA/2025, order dated 09-05-2025]