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Vedanta Wins Case Against India for $499 Million Award Claim

India’s top court ruled that Vedanta Ltd. is entitled to recover a $499 million arbitration award from the federal government.

Vedanta Wins Case Against India for $499 Million Award Claim
Signage for Vedanta Resources Ltd. is displayed at the company’s office building in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Kanishka Sonthalia/Bloomberg)

India’s top court ruled that Vedanta Ltd. is entitled to recover a $499 million arbitration award from the federal government for developing oil and gas fields off the coast of India’s Andhra Pradesh state.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Indian government’s petition, which had said that 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 Ravva oil and gas fields.

Cairn India Ltd., which was later acquired by Vedanta, had in 2011 won an arbitration award in Malaysia for higher recoveries and sought its enforcement in India. The company won a case for enforcement in a high court but the federal government appealed in the country’s top court saying the claim was against the Indian law.

“We conclude that the enforcement of the foreign award does not contravene the public policy of India, or that it is contrary to the basic notions of justice,” the court said, adding that it can’t re-examine evidence recorded by a foreign arbitration tribunal.

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