For any cross-border contract with an Indian counterparty, the arbitration clause is the most valuable page in the agreement. A poorly drafted clause can turn a winning award into years of litigation.

Seat and venue

In Bharat Aluminium Co. v. Kaiser Aluminium (BALCO), a Constitution Bench held in 2012 that Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 applies only to arbitrations seated in India. Foreign-seated arbitrations fall under Part II, which implements the New York Convention. The Supreme Court has since stressed that the seat usually carries exclusive supervisory jurisdiction, as recently in Arif Azim v. Micromax Informatics. Parties should therefore state the seat clearly, not merely a venue for hearings.

Institutions

Popular choices include SIAC (Singapore), ICC (Paris), LCIA (London), HKIAC and, domestically, the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration and the Delhi International Arbitration Centre. In Amazon v. Future Retail (2021), the Supreme Court held that an emergency arbitrator's award under SIAC rules, in an arbitration seated in New Delhi, is enforceable under Section 17(2) of the Act. The dispute involved the Future group's planned transaction with Reliance Retail.

Enforcing a foreign award in India

• A foreign award from a notified New York Convention country is enforced as a decree under Part II.
• Section 48 limits grounds for refusal, including incapacity, invalid agreement, lack of notice, excess of mandate and public policy.
• In Vijay Karia v. Prysmian Cavi E Sistemi (2020), concerning an LCIA London award arising from the Ravin Cables joint venture, the Supreme Court adopted a strongly pro-enforcement approach and held that public policy is not a backdoor appeal on merits.
• In 2025, the Supreme Court in Gayatri Balasamy v. ISG Novasoft held that courts have only a limited power to modify domestic awards under Sections 34 and 37.

Interim relief from Indian courts

Parties to foreign-seated arbitration can still apply to Indian courts for interim measures under Section 9, subject to the Act and the contract. This helps where assets are in India.

Checklist for foreign clients

• Specify seat, rules, number of arbitrators and language.
• Choose the governing law consciously.
• Verify the assets of the Indian party before filing.
• Confirm that the country of the seat is a notified reciprocating territory.

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This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Law and procedure change; please verify the current position for your specific case. Last reviewed: November 2026.