Governments at the Centre and in the States must urgently invest in building their own capacity to handle the new generation of international investment arbitration.
The Income Tax Department has ordered coercive action against Cairn Energy of UK, including taking away over Rs 2,000 crore dividend and tax refund, to recover part of the Rs 10,247 crore retrospective tax.
As India prepares to resume FTA talks with the EU, a recent landmark decision by the European Court of Justice on investor-state dispute settlement assumes importance.
‘IIA, which has a pro-investor bias, aims to protect only capital and not labour,’ said Saurabh Garg, the Joint Secretary in Indian Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs.
Vodafone Group Plc has served its second notice on the Indian government to formally commence thesecond arbitration in the high profile Rs 22,000 crore tax matter.
The growing number of investor claims against sovereign host states has fuelled a backlash against bilateral investment treaties and free-trade agreements across the world.