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<keyword id="28423" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="vedanta" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="vedanta" meta.entityname="Vedanta Ltd." meta.entityid="13111" meta.seoname="vedanta-ltd">Vedanta</keyword>'s <keyword id="64469" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="cairn" source="Orion">Cairn</keyword> Oil &amp; Gas on Thursday announced the appointment of <keyword id="10020546" type="General" weightage="90" keywordseo="Nick-Walker" source="Orion">Nick Walker</keyword> as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. In a statement, the company said the appointment is effective January 5. "Before this appointment, Walker was president and chief executive officer at <keyword id="9024567" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="lundin-energy" source="Orion">Lundin Energy</keyword>, one of the leading European independent E&amp;P companies," it said. Having worked previously in companies like BP, <keyword id="503735" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="talisman-energy" source="Orion">Talisman Energy</keyword> and Africa Oil, he has over 30 years of diverse international experience in technical, commercial and executive leadership roles. He will be the sixth CEO of the company since mining billionaire Anil Agarwal-led group bought the company from Scottish explorer Cairn Energy plc, now known as Capricorn Energy plc, in 2011. Walker comes into Cairn Oil &amp; Gas after Prachur Sah quit the firm to join <keyword id="13893871" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="indus-towers" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="indus towers" meta.entityname="Indus Towers Ltd." meta.entityid="22411" meta.seoname="indus-towers-ltd">Indus Towers</keyword> Ltd (formerly <keyword id="16136085" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharti-infratel-ltd" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="bharti infratel ltd" meta.entityname="Indus Towers Ltd." meta.entityid="22411" meta.seoname="indus-towers-ltd">Bharti Infratel Ltd</keyword>) as managing director and CEO effective January 3, 2023. Rahul Dhir, the company's first CEO who oversaw its listing and development of India's biggest oil discovery in Rajasthan, quit the company in August 2012. His successor P Elango resigned in May 2014, while the third CEO <keyword id="2565808" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="mayank-ashar" source="Orion">Mayank Ashar</keyword> resigned in May 2016. Thereafter, Sudhir Mathur resigned in April 2018. Sah was appointed deputy CEO in October 2020. Announcing the appointment of the new CEO, Anil Agarwal, Chairman, of <keyword id="2040264" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vedanta-resources-ltd" source="Orion">Vedanta Resources Ltd</keyword>, said, "We welcome Nick as the CEO for Vedanta's Cairn Oil &amp; Gas business and look forward to him driving the company's growth in years to come. Nick's global experience and incredible track record in the energy sector will provide the right expertise as Cairn embarks on the next phase of growth and sustainability." Walker will be leading all aspects of Cairn's strategy, including the development of strategic alliances with global partners to fast-track business delivery. He will drive the adoption and deployment of best-in-class oil and gas technologies and processes, with a focus on innovation and digitalization, for business transformation, the statement said. "Cairn Oil &amp; Gas is committed to increasing India's domestic crude oil and gas production with a vision to contribute 50 per cent of India's production and adding reserves and resources. "As one of the fastest developing economies, India is seeking to achieve energy self-sufficiency through a marked reduction in oil imports which currently account for 85 per cent of national consumption," it said. India produced 22.1 million tonnes or 442,000 barrels per day of crude oil during the first nine months of the current fiscal, according to official data available from the <keyword id="1538751" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="union-ministry-of-petroleum-and-natural-gas" source="Orion">Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas</keyword>. Vedanta in a stock exchange filing on January 3, 2023, giving out production numbers, stated that its oil and gas production during the October-December quarter was 144,789 barrels per day. <keyword id="11969166" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="vedanta-ltd" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="vedanta ltd" meta.entityname="Vedanta Ltd." meta.entityid="13111" meta.seoname="vedanta-ltd">Vedanta Ltd</keyword> is a subsidiary of Vedanta <keyword id="4217600" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="resources-ltd" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="resources ltd" meta.entityname="Crest Ventures Ltd." meta.entityid="10512" meta.seoname="crest-ventures-ltd">Resources Ltd</keyword>. 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Nick Walker is new CEO of Vedanta Cairn Oil and Gas

<ul><li><keyword id="64469" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cairn" source="Orion">Cairn</keyword> Energy has accepted the Indian government's $1 billion <keyword id="12044719" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="refund-offer" source="Orion">refund offer</keyword>.</li><li>The company had earlierstarted seizing Indian assets, beginning with 20 of them in France amounting to $23 million.</li><li>The company has said that it will drop litigations to seize diplomatic apartments in Paris and <keyword id="2573" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-India" source="Orion">Air India</keyword> airplanes in the US.</li></ul> UK-based <keyword id="262456" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cairn-energy-plc" source="Orion">Cairn Energy PLC</keyword> on Tuesday said it will drop litigations to seize <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="Orion">India</keyword>n properties in countries ranging from France to the US, within a couple of days of getting a USD 1 billion refund resulting from the scrapping of a retrospective tax law. The firm, which gave India its biggest onland oil discovery, termed "bold" the legislation passed last month to cancel a 2012 policy that gave the tax department power to go back 50 years and slap capital gains levies wherever ownership had changed hands overseas but business assets were in India. The offer to return money seized to enforce retrospective tax demand in lieu of dropping all litigations against the government "is acceptable to us," Cairn CEO Simon Thomson told PTI in an interview from London. Cairn will drop cases to seize diplomatic apartments in Paris and Air India airplanes in the US in "a matter of a couple of days" after the refund, he said adding Cairn's shareholders are in agreement with accepting the offer and moving on. "Some of our core shareholders likes BlackRock and Franklin Templeton agree (to this). Our view is supported by our core shareholders (that) on balance it is better to accept and move on and be pragmatic. Rather than continue with something negative for all parties which could last for many years," he said. Seeking to repair India's damaged reputation as an investment destination, the government last month enacted new legislation to drop Rs 1.1 lakh crore in outstanding claims against multinationals such as telecoms group Vodafone, pharmaceuticals company Sanofi and brewer SABMiller, now owned by AB InBev, and Cairn. About Rs 8,100 crore collected from companies under the scrapped tax provision are to be refunded if the firms agreed to drop outstanding litigation, including claims for interest and penalties. Of this, ₹7,900 crore is due only to Cairn. "Once we get to final resolution, part of that resolution is us dropping everything in terms of litigation. We can do that within a very short period of time, just a matter of a couple of days or something," Thomson said. "So we are preparing on the basis of getting this resolution quickly, all these cases being dropped, and putting all this behind." He said all enforcement proceedings brought because of the Government of India's refusal to honour an international arbitration award asking it to return the value of money seized to enforce the retrospective tax demand, will be dropped. "Everything will be dropped. There will be no more litigation, that will be it. It will clear the matter up," he said. Cairn in its half-yearly report on Tuesday said it will return up to USD 700 million out of the ₹7,900 crore (USD 1.06 billion) it is supposed to get from the Indian government, to "shareholders via special dividend and buyback." "Payment of the tax refund would enable a proposed return to shareholders of up to USD 700 million, via a special dividend of USD 500 million and a share buyback programme of up to USD 200 million. The remainder of the proceeds would be allocated to further expansion of the low-cost, sustainable production base," it said. Thomson said Cairn has had a "good, open and transparent line of communications with the Government of India" on finding a resolution to the retro tax issue. "Our aim was to get to a resolution... something which would be acceptable to our shareholders." "We were pleased when the Government of India made what we thought was a pretty bold move, in terms of enactment of the legislation," he said. "The intention of the government, we are obviously aligned with it, is to get this resolved as quickly as possible. Hopefully, that means within the next few weeks. It is good not only for us and our shareholders but also importantly for India." The resolution will bury the ghost of retro tax and help move on. "We are keen to get back to Cairn being talked about in terms of success in Rajasthan. I think moving on from this will allow us to do that," he said referring to the prolific oil discovery the firm made in Barmer. In accepting the terms of the new legislation in India, Cairn would be required to withdraw its international arbitration award claim, interest and costs and to end all legal enforcement actions in order to be eligible for the refund. "It will mean we will forego interest and penalty in terms of the original arbitration award. The important thing for us is it returns the value that was taken from us. From our perspective it is the right thing to do, be pragmatic, put this behind us, move on," he said adding this would help wipe away a factor negatively impacting investment for many years to come. The 2012 legislation was used to levy a cumulative of ₹1.10 lakh crore of tax on 17 entities including UK telecom giant Vodafone but nearly 98 per cent of the ₹8,100 crore recovered in enforcing such a demand was only from Cairn. An international arbitration tribunal in December overturned a levy of Rs 10,247 crore in taxes on a 2006 reorganisation of Cairn's India prior to its listing, and asked the Indian government to return the value of shares seized and sold, dividend confiscated and tax refund withheld. This totalled USD 1.2 billion-plus interest and penalty. The Indian government initially refused to honour the award, forcing Cairn to identify USD 70 billion of Indian assets from the US to Singapore to enforce the ruling, including taking flag carrier Air India Ltd to a US court in May. A French court in July paved the way for Cairn to seize real estate belonging to the Indian government in Paris. All these litigations will be dropped, he added. 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Cairn accepts India's $1 billion refund offer, says will drop all cases against the government

British oil firm <keyword id="262456" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cairn-Energy-Plc">Cairn Energy Plc</keyword> on Tuesday said it has identified Indian sovereign assets overseas, which it can seize in the event of New Delhi failing to return over USD 1.7 billion that an international arbitration tribunal has ordered after rescinding a <keyword id="10021078" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="retrospective-tax-demand">retrospective tax demand</keyword>. "<keyword id="64469" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cairn">Cairn</keyword> is extremely confident that satisfaction of the award will be achieved either by negotiated settlement or by enforcement against Indian assets," the firm said in its 2020 annual earnings statement. The firm has moved courts in nine countries to get the arbitral award registered and recognised. "The tribunal ruled unanimously that India had breached its obligations to Cairn under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty and awarded to Cairn damages of USD 1.2 billion-plus interest and costs, which immediately became payable. The total due at the year-end was USD 1.7 billion," it said. The firm said it has engaged directly with the <keyword id="6377129" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="government-of-india">government of India</keyword> regarding satisfaction of the award, which is also enforceable against Indian-owned assets in more than 160 countries that have signed and ratified the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. "Cairn has already taken steps to have the Award recognised in certain major jurisdictions in which Indian sovereign assets have been identified," the statement said. had on March 8 reported that the December 21 award from a three-member tribunal at the <keyword id="1056875" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Permanent-Court-of-Arbitration">Permanent Court of Arbitration</keyword> in the Netherlands has been recognised and confirmed by courts in the US, the UK, Netherlands, Canada and France. Further, the firm has started the process to register the award in Singapore, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the Cayman Islands. "Cairn's engagement with the Government of India on its arbitration award will continue in parallel with pursuing options of enforcement and monetisation of the Award in order to safeguard shareholders' rights," the statement noted. The registration of the award is the first step towards its enforcement in the event of the government not paying the firm. Once the court recognises an arbitration award, the company can then petition it for seizing any Indian government assets such as bank accounts, payments to state-owned entities, aeroplanes and ships in those jurisdictions, to recover the monies due to it. So far the government has not directly commented on honouring or challenging the Cairn arbitration award, but Finance Minister <keyword id="129243" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> had last week indicated going in for an appeal. The tribunal had on December 21 ruled that the government breached an investment treaty with the UK and was therefore liable to return the value of shares it had seized and sold, dividend confiscated and tax refund stopped to adjust a Rs 10,247 crore tax demand. Simon Thomson, Chief Executive, Cairn, said: "We have engaged with the Government of India regarding adherence to the ruling and we are pursuing all avenues to protect our shareholders' rights to the value of the award". Cairn said the tribunal ruled that the dispute was within the scope of the Treaty and other relevant legal parameters. "It further ruled that the application to Cairn of the retrospective tax amendment introduced by the Government of India was "grossly unfair", discriminatory and in breach of the "Fair and Equitable Treatment" standard of the Treaty," the statement said. The tribunal, therefore, ordered the withdrawal of the tax demand in India and awarded to Cairn compensation equal to the value of the shares held in Cairn India Limited (subsequently merged with <keyword id="2819168" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vedanta-Limited">Vedanta Limited</keyword>) seized by India in 2014 and withheld tax refunds due on other matters, totalling USD 1.223 billion-plus interest and costs, which is now payable. "Interest is payable based on USD six-month LIBOR plus a semi-annual margin of 1.375 per cent, accruing from 2014, and the costs awarded totalled USD 22 million. The total amount due to Cairn on December 31, 2020, was USD 1.725 billion," it said. 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Cairn says it has identified Indian assets for seizing should it be not paid

<ul class="p-rich_text_list p-rich_text_list__bullet"><li>India has decided to do away with a 2012 law that allowed the government to tax profits from earlier years even though theywere not taxable at the time.</li><li>This brings to end a decade-long tussle with foreign companies that saw the law as a deterrent to investments in India.</li><li>Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced 'The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021' which will undo the damage from the 2012 law.</li><li>The bill also proposes to refund the amount paid so far, in these cases, without any interest thereon.</li></ul>In a bid to bury the ghost of retrospective taxation, the government on Thursday brought a bill in the Lok Sabha to withdraw all back tax demands on companies such as Cairn Energy and Vodafone and said it will refund the money collected to enforce such levies. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced 'The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021' in the Lok Sabha that seeks to withdraw tax demands made using a 2012 retrospective legislation to tax the indirect transfer of Indian assets. The bill provides for the withdrawal of tax demand made on "indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken before May 28, 2012 (i.e. the day the <keyword id="996979" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="retrospective-tax">retrospective tax</keyword> legislation came into being)." "It is also proposed to refund the amount paid in these cases without any interest thereon," it said. The bill has a direct bearing on long-running tax disputes with British firms Cairn Energy Plc and Vodafone Group. The Indian government has lost two separate arbitrations brought by the two companies against the levy of retrospective taxes. While the government has virtually no liability in the Vodafone case, it has to refund USD 1.2 billion to Cairn Energy for the shares of the company it had sold, tax refund withheld and dividends confiscated. The bill states that the issue of taxability of gains arising from the transfer of assets located in India through the transfer of shares of a foreign company (indirect transfer of Indian assets) was a subject matter of protracted litigation. The Supreme Court in 2012 had given a verdict that gains arising from indirect transfer of Indian assets are not taxable under the extant provisions of the Act. But to circumvent this, the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 were amended by the Finance Act, 2012 with retrospective effect, to clarify that gains arising from the sale of shares of a foreign company is taxable in India if such shares, directly or indirectly, derive their value substantially from assets located in India. "Pursuant thereto, income-tax demand had been raised in 17 cases. In two cases assessments are pending due to stay granted by High Court," the objects of the Bill said. Out of the 17 cases, arbitration under Bilateral Investment Protection Treaty with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands had been invoked in four cases. "In two cases, the Arbitration Tribunal ruled in favour of the taxpayer and against the Income Tax Department," it said in a reference to arbitration awards won by Cairn and Vodafone. "The said clarificatory amendments made by the Finance Act, 2012 invited criticism from stakeholders mainly with respect to the retrospective effect given to the amendments. It is argued that such retrospective amendments militate against the principle of tax certainty and damage India's reputation as an attractive destination," it said. While the government has in the past few years brought major reforms in the financial and infrastructure sector to create a positive environment for investment in the country, "the retrospective clarificatory amendment and consequent demand created in a few cases continue to be a sore point with potential investors," it said. The country today stands at a juncture when quick recovery of the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic is the need of the hour and foreign investment has an important role to play in promoting faster economic growth and employment. "The Bill proposes to amend the Income-tax Act, 1961 so as to provide that no tax demand shall be raised in future on the basis of the said retrospective amendment for any indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken before 28th May 2012 (i.e., the date on which the Finance Bill, 2012 received the assent of the President)," it said. It further proposed to provide that the demand raised for indirect transfer of Indian assets made before May 28, 2012 shall be nullified on fulfilment of specified conditions such as withdrawal or furnishing of undertaking for withdrawal of pending litigation and furnishing of an undertaking to the effect that no claim for cost, damages, interest, etc shall be filed. It also proposed to "refund the amount paid in these cases without any interest thereon," it said. The bill proposes to amend the Finance Act, 2012 so as to provide that the validation of demand under section 119 of the Finance Act, 2012 shall cease to apply on fulfilment of specified conditions such as withdrawal of pending litigation and furnishing of an undertaking that no claim for cost, damages, interest, etc shall be filed. 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Indian government brings in a bill to bury the infamous retrospective tax that haunted Cairn and Vodafone for nearly a decade

India is believed to have challenged in a court in The Hague an <keyword id="10983799" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="arbitration-tribunal-verdict">arbitration tribunal verdict</keyword> that overturned its demand for ₹10,247 crore in <keyword id="172303" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="back-taxes">back taxes</keyword> from <keyword id="128650" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cairn-Energy">Cairn Energy</keyword> Plc -- the second time in three months that it has refused to accept an <keyword id="603715" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="international-award">international award</keyword> against retrospective tax. The appeal was filed on Monday, a source with knowledge of the matter said. The <keyword id="47209" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Finance-Ministry">Finance Ministry</keyword> spokesperson did not immediately respond to an e-mail sent for comments. The appeal against a three-member tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague invalidating India's Rs 10,247 crore tax claim on Cairn Energy and ordering the government to return the value of shares it had sold, dividends seized and tax refunds withheld, comes weeks before UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to India. The British Prime Minister is widely expected to broach India honouring international arbitration awards during his April 26 visit, another source said. In December, the government had challenged in a <keyword id="211440" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Singapore-court">Singapore court</keyword> an international arbitration tribunal verdict that overturned its demand for ₹22,100 crore in back taxes from Vodafone Group Plc. Since the seat of Vodafone arbitration was Singapore, an appeal was filed in a court in that country. In the case of Cairn, the seat was The Hague and so an appeal has been filed in a court in the Netherlands, the first source said. The appeal was filed on a day when Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur had told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that "any such decision on filing of appeal or otherwise is taken only after careful consideration of all aspects of the matter." The tribunal's 582-page detailed verdict that asked India to return USD 1.2 billion-plus interest and cost to Cairn was registered in the Netherlands on January 8 and New Delhi acknowledged it on January 19, the source said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier this month indicated the government's intent of appealing against the award on grounds of it questioning the sovereign powers of India to levy taxes. Her ministry feels taxation is not a subject of bilateral investment treaties, like the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty under which Cairn had sought rescinding of the tax demand raised, and so the award should be appealed. It is of the opinion that Cairn set up a tax abusive structure in 2006 when it reorganised its India business to list the local unit, and did not pay taxes anywhere in the world on the gains that it made in India, they said, adding India had made an unsuccessful case of tax not being part of the treaty before the arbitration panel as well. However, the arbitration award specifically made it clear the base of the judgment was not a challenge to the 2012 law or India's sovereign right to tax. "The issue at stake is thus not a matter of domestic tax law, it is rather whether the fiscal measures taken by the state, valid or not under its own tax laws, violate international law," the tribunal had said in a unanimous verdict. The Hague panel found that a 2012 law passed by the Indian Parliament was a new tax, not a clarification of prior law that could be applied to earlier years. Cairn has moved courts in nine countries to enforce the award against India. The award has already been recognised by courts in the US, the UK, Netherlands, Canada and France and the same is in the process in Singapore, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the Cayman Islands. The registration of the award is the first step towards its enforcement in the event of the government not paying the firm. Once the court recognises an arbitration award, the company can then petition it for seizing any Indian government assets such as bank accounts, payments to state-owned entities, airplanes and ships in those jurisdictions, to recover the monies due to it, sources said. Sources said the government believes that taxation is not covered under investment protection treaties with various countries and the law on taxation is a sovereign right of the country. While the treaties are primarily aimed at the protection of investments, the tax is levied on 'returns' earned by entities. But the Hague tribunal had gone into this claim and rejected it. Vodafone had challenged before the arbitration tribunal the demand for ₹7,990 crore in capital gains taxes (₹22,100 crore after including interest and penalty) under the Netherlands-India Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). The demand pertained to Vodafone's USD 11-billion acquisition of 67 per cent stake in the mobile phone business owned by Hutchison Whampoa in 2007. 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Indian government appeals against tribunal ruling of $1.4 billion Cairn arbitration award

New Delhi, Mar 10 () British oil explorer Cairn Energy Plc expects an international arbitral tribunal to give a decree by the summer of 2020 on its challenge to the Indian government seeking Rs 10,247 crore in retrospective taxes. The three-member tribunal, which had in December 2018 completed main court hearings in the British company's challenge to the Indian government using a retrospective legislation to seek Rs 10,247 crore in taxes, was supposed to give an award by February 2019, but in March 2019, it delayed it to 2019-end and then to the summer of 2020. "All formal hearings and submissions have now been made and the tribunal is in the process of drafting its award. The tribunal has indicated that it expects to be in a position to issue the award in the summer of 2020," Cairn said in its half-yearly earnings announcement on Tuesday. No reason was given by the tribunal for the delay in the award. Cairn said it is seeking full restitution for losses totalling more than USD 1.4 billion resulting from government expropriation of its investments in India in 2014. The company, which gave the country its biggest oil discovery, received a notice from the income tax department in January 2014, requesting information related to the group reorganisation done in 2006. Alongside, the department attached the company's near 10 per cent shareholding in its erstwhile subsidiary, Cairn India. In March 2015, the tax department sought Rs 10,247 crore in taxes on alleged capital gains made by the company in the internal reorganisation. Cairn Energy had in 2010-11 sold Cairn India to Vedanta. Following the merger of Cairn India and Vedanta in April 2017, the UK firm's shareholding in Cairn India was replaced by a shareholding of about 5 per cent in Vedanta issued together with preference shares. In addition to attaching its shares in Vedanta, the tax department seized dividends totalling Rs 1,140 crore due to it from those shareholdings, and set off a Rs 1,590-crore tax refund against the demand. Cairn Energy in 2015 initiated an international arbitration to challenge retrospective taxation. Pending final award, the tax department sold Cairn Energy's shares in Vedanta to recover part of the tax demand. "The Indian income tax department holds Cairn UK Holdings Ltd (a direct subsidiary of Cairn Energy) as an assessee in default in respect of tax demanded on the 2006 transactions, and as such has pursued enforcement against CUHL's assets in India. "To date, these enforcement actions have included attachment of CUHL's shareholding in Vedanta Ltd and sale of 181,764,297 shares and seizure of the proceeds, seizure of the proceeds from the redemption of the preference shares, seizure of the USD 159.8 million dividends due to CUHL, and offset of a USD 222.8 million tax refund due to CUHL in respect of another matter," the statement said. To date, 99 per cent of Cairn UK Holdings Ltd's (CUHL) shareholding has been liquidated by the tax department, it said. The assessment by the tax department of principal tax due on the 2006 transactions is Rs 10,267 crore, plus applicable interest and penalties. "Interest is currently being charged on the principal at a rate of 12 per cent per annum from February 2017, although this is potentially subject to the tax department's Indian court appeal that interest should be back-dated to 2007," it said. "Penalties are currently assessed as 100 per cent of the principal tax due, although this is subject to appeal by CUHL that penalties should not be charged given the retrospective nature of the tax levied." Cairn said it has got legal advice confirming that the maximum amount that could ultimately be recovered from the company by the tax department, in excess of the assets already seized, is limited to the value of CUHL's assets, principally the remaining ordinary shares in Vedanta Ltd. "In March 2015, Cairn filed a Notice of Dispute under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty in order to protect its legal position and seek restitution of the value effectively seized by the Indian income tax department (IITD) in and since January 2014. "Cairn's principal claims are that the assurance of fair and equitable treatment and protection against expropriation afforded by the treaty have been breached by the actions of the IITD, which is seeking to apply retrospective taxes to historical transactions already closely scrutinised and approved by the Government of India. The IITD has attached and seized assets to try to enforce such taxation," it said. Cairn is pleading that the effects of the tax assessment should be nullified and that the company should receive recompense from the government for the loss of value resulting from the 2014 attachment of CUHL's shares in Cairn India Ltd and the withholding of the tax refund, which together total about USD 1.4 billion, according to the statement. "The treaty proceedings formally commenced in January 2016 following an agreement between Cairn and the Republic of India on the appointment of a panel of three international arbitrators under the terms of the treaty. Cairn's statement of claim was submitted to the arbitral tribunal in June 2016 and the Republic of India submitted its statement of defence in February 2017. "Further submissions and document production took place in 2017 and 2018. The main evidentiary hearing of Cairn's claim under the Treaty took place in August 2018 in The Hague with a final hearing in December 2018. All formal hearings and submissions have now been made and the tribunal is in the process of drafting its award. The tribunal has indicated that it expects to be in a position to issue the award in the summer of 2020," it said. Based on detailed legal advice, Cairn said it remains confident that it will be successful in this arbitration and, accordingly, no provision has been made for any of the tax or penalties assessed by the IITD. It had previously stated that the arbitration panel is expected to issue a binding and internationally-enforceable award. ANZ HRS

Cairn expects arbitration award in retro tax case by this summer

After <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Tax-demand-against-Vodafone-and-Cairn-Energy-remains-valid/articleshow/51213121.cms">Vodafone</a> Group, UK’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=cairn+energy">Cairn Energy</a> plc was slapped with a tax demand notice of more than Rs 29,000 crore, including Rs 18,800 crore in back dated interest. 
 This move comes at a time when the Indian government said it will not raise any fresh tax demand using <keyword id="996979" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="retrospective-tax">retrospective tax</keyword> legislation. 
 
The notice was however issued before <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=arun+jaitley">Finance Minister Arun Jaitley</a> in his Budget for 2016-17 made a one-time offer to waive interest and penalty if the companies paid the principal amount to settle the retrospective tax disputes. 
 "The assessment order is in the amount of Rs 10,247 crore (approximately USD 1.6 billion) plus interest back dated to 2007 totalling Rs 18,800 crore (approximately USD 2.8 billion)," <keyword id="128650" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cairn-Energy">Cairn Energy</keyword> said announcing its earnings. 
 
I-T Department alleges that Cairn Energy made a capital gain of Rs 24,503.50 crore in 2006 when it transferred shares of Indian assets that were held in a subsidiary set up in the tax haven of Jersey, to newly incorporated Cairn India. 
 
It listed Cairn India Ltd on the stock exchanges through an initial public offering (IPO) thereafter. Through the IPO it raised Rs 8,616 crore and then in 2011 went on to sell majority stake in Cairn India to mining giant Vedanta Group for USD 8.67 billion.

Cairn Energy slapped with Rs 29, 000 crore retrospective tax

The government today said that it is open to out-of-court settlement with <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> and Cairn on tax cases, where the arbitration process has been initiated. 
 "As far as out of court settlement for Vodafone is concerned we have always said that we are prepared to discuss with friends and colleagues in Vodafone in good faith as to whether it might be possible to get to negotiated settlement we are always open to those discussions," Minister of State for Finance <keyword id="6357677" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Jayant-Sinha">Jayant Sinha</keyword> said. 
 
Foreign investors like Vodafone have dragged government to arbitration over a Rs 20,000 crore tax dispute arising out of retrospective applicability of the tax law. 
 British oil explorer <keyword id="128650" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Cairn-Energy">Cairn Energy</keyword> plc has also initiated a similar move over Rs 10,247 crore tax liability due to the same reason. 
 
The basic tax demand for Vodafone was Rs 7,990 crore but the total outstanding, including interest and penalty, is estimated to have risen to Rs 20,000 crore. 
 
While both the central government and Vodafone have named their arbitrators, they have not yet been able to agree on a third arbitrator to preside over the proceedings. 
 
The case relates to the retrospective amendment of the I-T laws carried out by the UPA government in 2012 to overturn the Supreme Court verdict, which had favoured Vodafone. 
 
Cairn had in April named former Bulgarian minister and lawyer Stanimir A Alexandrov as its arbitrator in the matter. India on its part has said it would soon appoint an arbitrator in the tax dispute. 
 Asked if the government is considering out-of-court settlement for Vodafone, CBDT Chairperson <keyword id="2573203" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Anita-Kapur">Anita Kapur</keyword> told PTI, the government is always in the favour of reducing litigation. 
 
"We will have to wait for some developments. The government is always open to reduce litigation dispute by whatever ways it is possible." 
Sinha also said that the most comprehensive efforts to reduce litigation is by elimination of exemptions and reducing corporate tax rates. 
 
"The other thing that we have underway is simplification of the tax code...so whether it is through cleaning up or streamlining exemptions, whether it is simplifying the tax code, we are absolutely trying to reduce the amount of litigation that is in the system right now," he said. 
 
"Our goal is to ensure that our tax system is fair, it's simple, it's predictable... Our endeavor with respect to all these specific cases is that we always we will attempt in all good faith to try and settle them. That remains our consistent principle for these specific cases," he added. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Government open to out-of-court settlement with Vodafone and Cairn on tax cases

New Delhi, Nov 19 () Vodafone Idea, India's third-largest telecom service provider, is seeking about Rs 7,000 crore in tax refunds for past years even as it faces fresh statutory dues liability - running into thousands of crore - that has put the income tax department in a bind, sources privy to the development said.
The tax department has in past adjusted refunds against a company's other liabilities towards the government. It had famously adjusted Rs 1,500 crore in tax refunds due to Cairn Energy plc of UK to part settle a retrospective tax demand of Rs 10,247 crore even though the matter was under arbitration.
Sources said Vodafone has to receive an aggregate of about Rs 1,000 crore from Mumbai unit of income tax department and another Rs 6,000 crore from its Delhi office for multiple assessment years dating back to 2004-05.
The company has got favourable rulings from High Courts and appellate tribunals in some and is now pressing the department to quickly refund the dues, they said.
The income tax department is, however, caught in a bind as Vodafone-Idea Ltd has to pay Rs 44,150 crore to the government in past statutory dues following the Supreme Court ruling that non-telecom revenues have to be included for calculating the payout towards license fee and spectrum usage charge.
Sources said the department is of the view that the refund should be adjusted against this demand as there have been some concerns raised in a section of media about the very existence of the company if it were asked to cough up the past statutory liabilities.
The department wants the Finance Ministry in consultation with the Telecom Ministry to decide on dealing with the refund.
Vodafone Idea declined to comment on an email sent to the company on the matter.
Vodafone Idea, last week, reported a consolidated loss of Rs 50,921 crore -- the highest ever loss posted by any Indian corporate -- for September quarter on account of liability arising out of the Supreme Court's order in the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case.
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the government and directed telecom companies, including Vodafone Idea, to pay dues as demanded by the Department of Telecom. Vodafone Idea has said that its ability to continue business will depend on reliefs sought from the government and positive outcome of the legal option it has (the company is in the process of filing a review petition on the AGR matter).
Both Vodafone India and Idea Cellular merged their telecom business to handle the tariff war in the sector, triggered by the new entrant Reliance Jio in 2016. The merged entity Vodafone Idea came into existence on August 31 last year as the biggest telecom operator in the country with 408 million mobile customers. 
However, the financial woes for the company did not end and the company lost over 100 million mobile subscribers since merger due to the cut throat tariff war, and chasing higher revenue-yielding minimum recharges.
The company has been investing in building networks. However, low return from tariffs added to its financial worries.
The older telecom operators -- Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel -- are staring at massive financial outgo in unpaid statutory dues as Supreme Court has upheld government's way of calculating the telecom revenue, on which licence fee and spectrum charges are computed.
As per latest estimates by the telecom department, Bharti Airtel faces a liability of around Rs 62,187 crore (including share of Tata Group of companies and Telenor India), while Vodafone Idea may have to pay about Rs 54,184 crore. The remaining liability is with state-owned BSNL/MTNL and some of the shut/bankrupt telecom companies.
The Supreme Court has allowed three months to the affected telcos to cough up the amounts due to the DoT, and recently the telecom department shot-off notice to telcos to pay their revenue share dues within the timelines stipulated by the court. The department has given option to operators to clear all the dues on self-assessment basis. MBI ANZ BAL

Vodafone Idea presses for Rs 7,000 cr tax refund; I-T dept hesitant in view of fresh liability

With retrospective <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget-2016/tax">taxation</a> continuing to rile foreign investors, the Budget tomorrow may look to address their concerns with a view to resolving the legacy issues. 
 Chief Economic Advisor <keyword id="6355547" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arvind-Subramanian">Arvind Subramanian</keyword> said that the present government is taking "consistent steps" to deal with the legacy tax issues to regain investor confidence. 
 
"Slowly, slowly they (government) are cleaning up the legacy issue. I think they will continue to do so going forward and hopefully so in the Budget. It's a long drawn agenda that we need to clean up tax system," he said. 
The continuation of multi-billion dollar tax liability imposed by the previous UPA government using a retrospective legislation, has been a matter of concern for foreign investors who had hoped that the BJP government will quickly resolve them. 
 
 
Earlier this month, the tax department took the unusual step of sending a reminder notice to Vodafone for payment of Rs 14,200 crore of taxes on an issue that is under arbitration. 
 
Even after two years, the arbitration in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+">Vodafone</a> case has not yet started in absence of appointment of a presiding judge on a three member arbitration panel. 
 
The Rs 10,247 crore tax issue of Cairn Energy Plc of UK could manage to get a full panel constituted, even though the process started much later than Vodafone, only after the issue was brought to the notice of Prime Minister's Office. 
 Both Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> and Finance Minister <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Arun+Jaitley+">Arun Jaitley</a> have repeatedly stated that no new tax liability would be created using the retrospective law, the lingering of the disputes has not gone down well with foreign investors. Many of them had hoped that the government may use the A P Shah panel that had sorted out the contentious issue of levy of <keyword id="73398" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="MAT">MAT</keyword> on capital gains made by FPIs and FIIs, to resolve these legacy issues. 
 
A top executive at a foreign company the easiest way to resolve these issues is to refer the pending cases to the Shah panel as they had done in the MAT issue and implement its recommendations. 
 
Subramanian said the government had proactively resolved the MAT issue and is working to do so for the remaining legacy issues.

You Searched For "cairn energy plc" and got 10 results

Nick Walker is new CEO of Vedanta Cairn Oil and Gas

PTI

Cairn accepts India's $1 billion refund offer, says will drop all cases against the government

PTI

Cairn says it has identified Indian assets for seizing should it be not paid

PTI

Indian government brings in a bill to bury the infamous retrospective tax that haunted Cairn and Vodafone for nearly a decade

PTI

Indian government appeals against tribunal ruling of $1.4 billion Cairn arbitration award

PTI

Cairn expects arbitration award in retro tax case by this summer

PTI

Cairn Energy slapped with Rs 29, 000 crore retrospective tax

BI India Bureau

Government open to out-of-court settlement with Vodafone and Cairn on tax cases

BI India Bureau

Vodafone Idea presses for Rs 7,000 cr tax refund; I-T dept hesitant in view of fresh liability

PTI

Budget 2016 may address retrospective tax concerns, says Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian

BI India Bureau

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