The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Vedanta Ltd. is entitled to recover a $ 499 million arbitration award from the central government to develop oil and gas fields in Rajasthan.
The court rejected the government’s petition, which said billionaire Anil Agarwal’s company, along with Videocon Industries Ltd., is entitled to recover only $ 198.5 million as agreed in the production-sharing contract for the oil fields and Ravva gas.
Cairn India Ltd., which was later acquired by Vedanta, won an arbitration award in Malaysia in 2011 for higher recoveries and sought enforcement in India. The company won a case for execution in a higher court, but the federal government appealed in the country’s highest court saying the claim was against Indian law.
The higher court said that it cannot re-examine the evidence recorded by a foreign arbitration court and that the enforcement of the award in favor of Vedanta will not be contrary to public policy in India, as asserted by the federal government.
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