Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence has issued a show cause notice to Cadbury India Limited and raised a demand of Rs. 252 crore for alleged excise duty evasion.

In the investigation of Excise Department it was found that the Cadbury has wrongfully claimed ‘area-based exemption’ for its new unit at Sandoli village of Baddi in Solan District.

As per the central government norms, the area-based exemption for new industrial units of firms in Himachal Pradesh provide full exemption from excise duties for specified goods for a period of 10 years. For availing this, the unit should have been established before March 2010 to claim such benefit. However, the Excise Department found that the company claimed excise duty exemption for its new unit at Baddi unit, relating to a period even before it came into existence.