There has been a spurt in high-value arbitration matters in the country: Institute

Recent years have seen a spurt in the number of high-value arbitration matters in India and the government must recognise and acknowledge this, a senior advocate has said.

In this regard, the Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre (NPAC), the only arbitration forum in south India formally recognised by the Madras High Court, organised a two-day training session at Mussoorie along with the central government.

It was attended by senior bureaucrats from key ministries and they were briefed about the importance and the scope of arbitration.

"Recent years have seen a spurt in high-value disputes which have taken the arbitration route. It has become imperative for the government machinery to recognise and acknowledge this fact.

"This training (from June 6 to June 7) was a great step in educating key officials about the contours of arbitration," senior advocate and director at NPAC N L Rajah said in a press release issued by the organisation.

Rajah was one of the speakers at the event held at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.

The two-day session covered insightful topics such as alternate dispute resolution redressal systems, role of courts in being a catalyst, regularisation of judicial systems, among others, the NPAC said.

Highlighting the Centre's shift towards arbitration as an effective way of dispute resolution, the Ministry of Justice has recognised 19 institutions, including NPAC, where government departments would take up the job of resolving disputes, the release said.

"Growing interest in positioning India as a global arbitration hub will not only help the government in cutting down lengthy legal proceedings but also boost India's ranking in the 'Ease-of-doing-Business Index', one of the government's key agendas," the NPAC said.

The panel of experts in the training session included legal experts of NPAC such as its directors and advocates Payal Chawla and V S Jayakumar, and member of the advisory council of NPAC Amit George.

NPAC founded in 2005 is the only such institute to have two branches in the country.