Panthera, a gold exploration company with assets in India, said that its subsidiary Indo Gold Pty Ltd had issued a notice of dispute to the Indian government over the latter’s breach of the 1999 Australia-India bilateral investment treaty.
India and the UAE discussed a bilateral investment treaty that could see the UAE invest in India’s renewable energy, health, semiconductor and asset monetisation sectors.
Since India’s quest has been to establish a rule-based global order, its support for an appellate review will ensure more state and investor confidence in international investment law.
To boost foreign inflows into India’s manufacturing and industrial sectors, India plans to liberalize foreign investments in the ‘non-services sector’ in the ongoing Free Trade Agreement discussions.
As India and the UK inch closer towards finalising a free trade agreement, the contours of the much-debated and contentious bilateral investment treaty are likely to be finalised around the same time as the FTA.
The experience with investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms has been mixed, with India facing several adverse awards and financial compensation in certain high-profile cases.
ICSID Tribunal unanimously ordered Tanzania to pay more than US$109.5million plus costs for the unlawful expropriation of the Ntaka Hill Nickel Project (India).