Notes on Indian law filed under Contracts and procurement, published by Juris Eagle.https://juriseagle.com/insights/practice/contracts-and-procurementen-inMon, 09 Nov 2026 12:40:42 GMThttps://juriseagle.com/disclaimerhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/a-carriers-liability-for-goods-lost-on-the-road-and-the-consignment-notehttps://juriseagle.com/insights/a-carriers-liability-for-goods-lost-on-the-road-and-the-consignment-noteA common carrier of goods by road in India is responsible under the Carriage by Road Act, 2007 for loss or damage in transit unless a cause listed in section 17 applies, but section 10(1) limits the liability to an amount fixed by rule, which rule 12(1) of the Carriage by Road Rules, 2011 makes, for total loss, ten times the freight, never above the value declared in the goods forwarding note. The limit falls away only if the consignor undertook to pay a higher risk rate under section 11. No suit lies without written notice within 180 days of booking (section 16), and suit lies within three years under Article 10 or 11 of the Schedule to the Limitation Act, 1963, from the loss or from when the goods ought to have been delivered. The Act repealed the Carriers Act, 1865, and an export under one multimodal transport contract, by two or more modes, can bring in the Multimodal Transportation of Goods Act, 1993.Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Adithya Karthik KContracts and procurementcivil-disputescontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/change-in-law-claim-under-a-power-purchase-agreementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/change-in-law-claim-under-a-power-purchase-agreementA generator that sells power under a power purchase agreement (PPA) and bears a higher cost after a change in law claims compensation under the agreement and, since 22 October 2021, under the Electricity (Timely Recovery of Costs due to Change in Law) Rules, 2021 (the Rules), which restore it to its earlier position. It gives three weeks' notice and files its documents with the Appropriate Commission, which has sixty days to verify and adjust the tariff. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) hears the claim of a generator owned by the Central Government, or with a composite scheme in more than one State, under section 79 of the Electricity Act, 2003, and a State Commission any other claim under section 86; appeal lies to the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) within forty-five days and then to the Supreme Court within sixty days.Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PProjectsprojects-and-landcontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/how-a-drug-ceiling-price-is-fixed-and-an-overcharging-demand-is-computedhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/how-a-drug-ceiling-price-is-fixed-and-an-overcharging-demand-is-computedA ceiling price for a scheduled formulation under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO), made under section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, is the simple average of the prices to retailer of every brand and generic version with a market share of at least one per cent of total market turnover, plus a retailer margin of 16 per cent, revised each 1 April by the annual wholesale price index (WPI), which for the revision from 1 April 2026 was 0.64956 per cent, the index for 2025 over 2024. A manufacturer that sells above it is liable to deposit the overcharged amount with interest. A price order can go to the Central Government for review within thirty days, a demand has no appeal under the Order and may be brought before a High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution, and contravention is an offence under section 7 of the Act.Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PHealthcareboardroom-and-corporatecontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/transferring-a-mining-lease-after-the-mmdr-amendments-what-passes-and-what-it-costshttps://juriseagle.com/insights/transferring-a-mining-lease-after-the-mmdr-amendments-what-passes-and-what-it-costsA mining lease in India goes to a person selected under section 10(4) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act): by auction under section 10B for a notified mineral such as iron ore, or by the routes in sections 10BA, 11, 11A, 11B and 11D, a reservation under section 17A or the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015. It runs for fifty years under section 8A and passes to a buyer under section 12A with the previous approval of the State Government, taken to have no objection if it conveys no decision in ninety days, and with no transfer charge since 28 March 2021. The payments continue: royalty or dead rent, whichever is greater, ten per cent of royalty to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) for a lease granted on or after 12 January 2015, three per cent to the National Mineral Exploration and Development Trust (NMEDT) since 1 September 2025, and the auction premium. The lease lapses under section 4A(4) after two years without production and dispatch, and a refusal goes in revision to the Central Government under section 30 of the Act and rules 35 and 36 of the Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Minerals) Concession Rules, 2016.Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PProjectsprojects-and-landcontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/epc-contract-delay-and-variation-claimshttps://juriseagle.com/insights/epc-contract-delay-and-variation-claimsAn engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in India carries its delay and variation claims through the Indian Contract Act, 1872: section 55 decides whether late completion lets the owner end the contract or only claim compensation, and section 74 caps liquidated damages at the sum named, which on the Supreme Court's reading in Kailash Nath Associates v. Delhi Development Authority (9 January 2015) is payable in full only as a genuine pre-estimate of loss. Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 gives three months, and at most thirty days more, to challenge an award, and section 20A of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 bars a court from granting an injunction that would delay a listed infrastructure project.Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PContracts and procurementcontracts-and-procurementprojects-and-landhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/reselling-foreign-software-and-saas-in-indiahttps://juriseagle.com/insights/reselling-foreign-software-and-saas-in-indiaIn Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence Private Limited v. Commissioner of Income Tax, decided on 2 March 2021, the Supreme Court held that a payment by an Indian distributor or end user to a foreign supplier for the resale or use of software under a distribution agreement or an end-user licence agreement is not royalty and gives rise to no income taxable in India, so no duty to deduct tax arose under section 195 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The successor withholding rule for payments to non-residents is section 393(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The ruling does not decide goods and services tax (GST) on imported software or software as a service (SaaS), and it does not touch the limits that section 3(4) of the Competition Act, 2002 places on exclusive distribution.Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PTechnology and datacontracts-and-procurementip-and-licensingtaxation-and-fiscalhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/ecms-incentives-thresholds-and-clawbackhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/ecms-incentives-thresholds-and-clawbackThe Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 8 April 2025 with an outlay of INR 22,919 crore including administrative expenses, pays turnover-linked incentive at 1 to 10 per cent of incremental sales, capex incentive at 25 per cent of eligible capital expenditure, or both together for the two selected bare components in segment C. Every rate is conditional: 1 percentage point of the turnover rate, or 5 points of the capex rate, is released only if an employment threshold is met, and the guidelines cap total incentive at 50 per cent of eligible investment. The portal states that the window for segments A, B, C and E closed on 30 September 2025 and that the segment D window remains open until 30 April 2027.Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTDr. Vijay MishraManufacturing and incentivestransaction-advisorycontracts-and-procurementip-and-licensinghttps://juriseagle.com/insights/india-uk-ceta-in-force-secondment-and-no-investment-treatyhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/india-uk-ceta-in-force-secondment-and-no-investment-treatyThe India and United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), signed on 24 July 2025, entered into force on 15 July 2026, together with the Double Contributions Convention (DCC) on social security. For a United Kingdom engineering or services business it lowers Indian import duty in stages, opens a defined list of Indian central government tenders, and sets the permitted length of stay for staff sent to India. The DCC keeps a seconded United Kingdom employee under National Insurance for up to 60 months. No investment treaty came with it: the 1994 bilateral investment treaty (BIT) ended on 23 March 2017, and the Department of Economic Affairs list shows no replacement.Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PTradecontracts-and-procurementtransaction-advisoryemploymenthttps://juriseagle.com/insights/qatari-investor-in-india-1999-treaty-tail-and-tax-ruleshttps://juriseagle.com/insights/qatari-investor-in-india-1999-treaty-tail-and-tax-rulesNo India-Qatar investment treaty is in force on the register of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), which records the 1999 treaty as terminated on 23 March 2017 and lists no later Qatar entry. On its words, the 1999 text stays effective for ten years after termination for investments made before that date, that is until 23 March 2027, with fair and equitable treatment, expropriation and arbitration clauses. A new bilateral investment treaty was still under negotiation on 18 February 2025, when the leaders agreed to expedite it. Tax rules sit apart: a revised double taxation agreement was signed on that visit, and Schedule V of the Income-tax Act, 2025 can exempt the income of a notified sovereign wealth fund.Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTDr. Vijay MishraTradetransaction-advisorycontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/shanti-act-private-nuclear-licences-and-liabilityhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/shanti-act-private-nuclear-licences-and-liabilityThe Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act, 2025 (Act No. 39 of 2025), which received assent on 20 December 2025 and was published in the Gazette of India on 21 December 2025, repeals the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, and, once in force, makes any company incorporated in India, alone or in a joint venture, eligible for a licence to build, own, operate and decommission a nuclear power plant, with no equity ceiling in the text. The operator's liability for nuclear damage is capped by reactor size at INR 100 crore to INR 3,000 crore, the Act gives the operator a right of recourse only where a written contract provides it or the incident was intentionally caused by an individual, and it comes into force only on a date the Central Government notifies, a notification we have not found.Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTDr. Vijay MishraProjectsprojects-and-landcontracts-and-procurementtransaction-advisoryhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/what-protects-a-japanese-investor-in-indiahttps://juriseagle.com/insights/what-protects-a-japanese-investor-in-indiaThe India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed at Tokyo on 16 February 2011, has its own investment chapter, Chapter 8, and the Department of Economic Affairs register of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) lists no India-Japan BIT, so India's 2016 and 2017 BIT terminations appear not to have touched it. Chapter 8 gives national and most-favoured-nation treatment, the customary minimum standard, protection against uncompensated expropriation and free transfers, with arbitration after six months of consultation and within three years of knowing of the loss. Taxation sits outside the CEPA: the India-Japan Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), as amended in 2006 and 2015, caps source-state tax on dividends, interest and royalties at 10 per cent of the gross amount for a beneficial owner.Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Adithya Karthik KTradetransaction-advisorycontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/pm-e-drive-and-the-battery-ruleshttps://juriseagle.com/insights/pm-e-drive-and-the-battery-rulesPM E-DRIVE, the scheme that followed FAME-II and subsumed EMPS-2024, now runs to 31 March 2028 on an outlay raised to INR 11,900 crore, and the last date for a claim under any component is 31 December 2027. The same electric two-wheeler that earns a demand incentive also creates an extended producer responsibility liability under the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, counted against sales made two financial years earlier. For an electric two-wheeler maker the two clocks cross in 2026-27, the first year its battery collection target bites, and again in 2027-28, when recycled content in new batteries becomes mandatory.Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTDr. Vijay MishraManufacturing and incentivescontracts-and-procurementboardroom-and-corporateprojects-and-landhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/ai-in-contracts-diligence-and-disclosurehttps://juriseagle.com/insights/ai-in-contracts-diligence-and-disclosureContracts for AI tools are usually drafted as if a warranty and an indemnity settle who answers for the tool. In India they settle who pays, and only up to the cap. Responsibility sits elsewhere. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already notified a regulation, regulation 16C of the Intermediaries Regulations, 2008, under which a regulated person using AI or machine learning tools is solely responsible for investor data, for the output of the tools and for compliance, whether it built the tool or bought it. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 will say the same about personal data from 13 May 2027, irrespective of any agreement to the contrary. The Reserve Bank's FREE-AI report is a committee report, and the SEBI guidelines on AI use are still a June 2025 consultation as far as we could trace. So the drafting task is to price and cap a loss the buyer cannot hand over, and the diligence task is to find out what a target actually owns.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Adithya Karthik KTechnology and dataai-and-emerging-technologycontracts-and-procurementboardroom-and-corporatetechnology-data-and-producthttps://juriseagle.com/insights/semiconductor-equipment-scomet-licensing-2026https://juriseagle.com/insights/semiconductor-equipment-scomet-licensing-2026India's export control list for dual use items, the Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET) list, was revised by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on 23 September 2025, to take effect 30 days after issue. The revision filled Category 7, until then reserved, with emerging technology items, among them advanced chip manufacturing tools for lithography, low temperature epitaxy, deposition and dry etching, while Category 8 keeps the general semiconductor equipment entry. A fab or tool supplier that exports, sends for repair, re-exports or transfers technology for these items needs a DGFT authorisation first, files an end user certificate, and keeps records for at least five years.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTDr. Vijay MishraTrade controlsip-and-licensingcontracts-and-procurementtransaction-advisoryhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/carbon-credit-targets-and-the-shortfallhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/carbon-credit-targets-and-the-shortfallFrom 8 October 2025, the Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity Target Rules, 2025 have given 282 named plants in aluminium, cement, chlor-alkali and pulp and paper a binding emission intensity target for 2025-26 and 2026-27. An amendment in force from 13 January 2026 added 208 more in secondary aluminium, refining, petrochemicals and textiles. A plant that misses its target has to buy and surrender carbon credit certificates for the gap, and a shortfall left uncovered draws environmental compensation at twice the average traded price.Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PProjectsprojects-and-landcontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/ai-law-in-india-what-binds-todayhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/ai-law-in-india-what-binds-todayA business buying or building AI in India is usually told it faces a new compliance regime. It does not, yet. There is no AI statute. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is the instrument that will govern most AI use of personal data, and its substantive provisions are not in force: the commencement notification of 13 November 2025 puts sections 3 to 17, the data principal rights and the penalty section at 13 May 2027. The Data Protection Board exists but was still advertising for a chairperson and four members in May 2026. One AI-specific obligation does bind now, and it is narrow: the synthetic media provisions inserted into the Information Technology Rules in February 2026, which bind intermediaries rather than every company that uses a model. So the honest answer for most businesses is that the obligation is a dated clock, not a present duty, and the eighteen months are for building.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PTechnology and datatechnology-data-and-productcontracts-and-procurementboardroom-and-corporatehttps://juriseagle.com/insights/revised-schedule-m-gmp-deadlineshttps://juriseagle.com/insights/revised-schedule-m-gmp-deadlinesEvery manufacturer licensed under rule 74, 76 or 78 of the Drugs Rules, 1945 has been bound by the revised Schedule M since 31 December 2025 at the latest: since 28 June 2024 above INR 250 crore, and since 28 December 2024 for a smaller manufacturer that did not file Form A. The only relief we have found is G.S.R. 127(E) of 11 February 2025. It let a manufacturer with turnover under INR 250 crore apply, within three months and with an upgradation plan, for time to 31 December 2025, the last date any instrument we have found gives. As at 14 October 2026, that date is more than nine months past.Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Adithya Karthik KHealthcareboardroom-and-corporatecontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/dpdp-rules-in-force-may-2027https://juriseagle.com/insights/dpdp-rules-in-force-may-2027The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 were notified on 13 November 2025 as G.S.R. 846(E). Rules 1, 2 and 17 to 21 came into force that day, and they are the machinery of the Data Protection Board rather than anything a company must do. Rule 4, on consent managers, starts on 13 November 2026. Everything a data fiduciary has to build, the notice, the security measures, breach reporting, erasure and the rights machinery, starts on 13 May 2027, and sections 3 to 17 of the Act start on the same day. The regulator exists now. The duties do not.Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PTechnology and datatechnology-data-and-productcontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/digital-lending-and-the-five-per-cent-guaranteehttps://juriseagle.com/insights/digital-lending-and-the-five-per-cent-guaranteeThe Reserve Bank of India (Digital Lending) Directions, 2025 took three circulars written over five years and replaced them with one, and in doing so moved the default loss guarantee out of a standalone 2023 circular and into a chapter of the regime it always belonged to. The commercial terms are unchanged in substance: cover is capped at five per cent of what the portfolio disbursed, it is held in cash or in something a lender can realise like cash, and the lender invokes it within 120 days of a loan going overdue. What changed is the frame. A guarantee is now read against the same instrument that fixes the key fact statement, the cooling off right, the fee route and the directory filing, so an arrangement that is sound on the five per cent and wrong on the fees fails in one document rather than two.Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Harsha Swaroop PFinancial technology and paymentsbanking-sarfaesi-drttechnology-data-and-productcontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/defence-procurement-manual-2025-liquidated-damageshttps://juriseagle.com/insights/defence-procurement-manual-2025-liquidated-damagesThe Defence Procurement Manual 2025 came into force on 1 November 2025 for revenue procurement by the Ministry of Defence and the Services. Liquidated damages for late delivery still run at 0.5 per cent of the price a week, but the ceiling is now 5 per cent, rising to 10 per cent only where the inexcusable delay exceeds one-fourth of the total delivery period. On a development contract for an indigenised item the clause is waived until the prototype is developed, and afterwards, where it is included at all, the rate is 0.1 per cent a week.Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDr. Vijay MishraContracts and procurementcontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/india-efta-investment-objective-promotion-not-protectionhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/india-efta-investment-objective-promotion-not-protectionThe Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and the four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, was signed on 10 March 2024 and entered into force on 1 October 2025. Its Chapter 7 sets a shared objective that the EFTA States aim to raise foreign direct investment (FDI) in India by 100 billion United States dollars (USD) over fifteen years and to facilitate one million direct jobs, but it binds the EFTA States only to promote that investment, bars dispute settlement under the agreement, and lets India, after a long consultation ladder, rebalance goods concessions. It gives an investor no protection of its own, and India's bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with Switzerland was terminated in 2017.Mon, 20 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTDr. Vijay MishraManufacturing and incentivestransaction-advisorycontracts-and-procurementhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/india-singapore-ceca-investment-chapter-protection-for-a-singapore-investorhttps://juriseagle.com/insights/india-singapore-ceca-investment-chapter-protection-for-a-singapore-investorThe investment chapter of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), signed at New Delhi on 29 June 2005 and in force from 1 August 2005, gives a Singapore investor in India national treatment, protection against expropriation without prompt, adequate and effective compensation, free transfer of returns, and a right to take most disputes to arbitration after six months of consultations. It has no fair and equitable treatment article, national treatment on entry applies only in the sectors India scheduled, and a national treatment breach cannot be arbitrated. India's termination of its bilateral investment treaties from 2016 did not name this agreement: the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) register lists no Singapore treaty at all, and no official notice terminating or amending Chapter 6 has been published.Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTAdv. Adithya Karthik KTradetransaction-advisorycontracts-and-procurement2024 Juris Eagle. This website is intended solely for informational purposes and does not constitute solicitation or advertisement under applicable Bar Council regulations. The transmission or receipt of information through this platform does not create an advocate-client relationship. Legal advice is rendered only upon formal written engagement with the firm.