Insights
Infrastructure and projects
Notes on Indian law as it applies to infrastructure and projects. The sector itself is described on its own page.
A generator's change in law claim runs on three weeks' notice, a sixty day check by the Commission and an appeal within forty-five days
A 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.
A mining lease passes to a buyer under section 12A with State approval and no transfer charge, while royalty, District Mineral Foundation, Trust and premium payments continue
A 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.
Delay and variation claims under an Indian construction contract turn on section 55, the section 74 ceiling and a narrow challenge under section 34
An 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.
A Canadian pension fund in Indian infrastructure: the income-tax exemption, and the treaty rates where it does not apply
Schedule V of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (Table, Sl.
What protects a Qatari investor in India: the 1999 treaty's ten-year tail, no new treaty yet, and the tax rules
No 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.
Under the SHANTI Act, private Indian companies may hold nuclear power licences, with operator liability capped by reactor size, from a date yet to be notified
The 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.
What protects a Japanese investor in India today: the CEPA investment chapter and the tax treaty
The 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.
Half the new insolvency law is in force, and the half everyone talked about is not
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2026 received assent on 6 April 2026, and most of it commenced on 26 May 2026.
India's carbon market now sets plant-level targets, and a shortfall left uncovered costs twice what a certificate trades for
From 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.
Delay under RERA runs from the date in the agreement for sale, not from the date the project was registered
Section 18(1)(a) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 fixes liability by reference to the terms of the agreement for sale and the date specified in it.
What the Labour Codes Cost You, and Who Carries It
Gratuity on fixed-term staff now accrues at one year instead of five, and the 144-hour quarterly overtime ceiling is a limit rather than a cost.
What the India-UAE Bilateral Investment Treaty protects for a UAE investor in India, and what it leaves out
The India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), signed at Abu Dhabi on 13 February 2024 and in force from 31 August 2024, protects a UAE investor's enterprise-based investment in India against denial of justice, fundamental breach of due process, targeted discrimination, manifestly abusive treatment and uncompensated expropriation.
A German company's presence in India: liaison, branch or project office under the Reserve Bank's Master Direction
A German company that wants a presence in India without a subsidiary can seek a liaison office (LO), a branch office (BO) or a project office (PO), approved by an Authorised Dealer Category-I (AD Category-I) bank under the Reserve Bank of India's Master Direction of 1 January 2016, updated to 18 May 2021, which implements the Foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of a Branch Office or a Liaison Office or a Project Office or any other Place of Business) Regulations, 2016.
What the India-Singapore CECA investment chapter protects for a Singapore investor, and what it leaves out
The 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.
By sector
By practice
By author