Cairn Energy provides update on Indian litigation

Exploration and development company Cairn Energy provided investors with an update on its proceedings against the Indian Government under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty on Tuesday.

Cairn said the Arbitral Tribunal had indicated that, while it had encountered some difficulties created by the Covid-19 pandemic, it did not expect significant delays to occur and hoped to remain "reasonably within" the lead-time it had anticipated.

The FTSE 250-listed group added that although the tribunal said it was not yet able to commit to a specific date for its ruling, it expects a "release of the Award after the end of the summer".

Cairn added that it continued to have "a high level of confidence in the arbitration" and was still seeking full restitution for losses of more than $1.4bn.

Back in 2015, Cairn entered into international arbitration proceedings against the Government of India following the expropriation of its investments and retrospective taxation actions undertaken by the nation's Income Tax Department a year earlier.

As of 0840 BST, Cairn shares were up 2.15% at 133.10p.