An international tribunal has ruled by majority to reject the Indian government’s $1.7 billion claim that offshore drilling partners BP PLC, Niko Resources Ltd. and Reliance Industries Ltd. siphoned gas from deposits they had no right to exploit, two of the companies said on Tuesday.
Canada’s Niko Resources and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries both released statements confirming that tribunal had ruled 2-1 to completely reject the Indian government’s claims.
Reliance Industries and its partners, Britain’s BP Plc and Canada’s Niko Resources, won the verdict against the government of India, by a majority of two to one.
“All the contentions of the consortium have been upheld by the majority with a finding that the consortium was entitled to produce all gas from its contract area and all claims made by the government of India have been rejected. The consortium is not liable to pay any amount to the government of India,” Reliance said in a statement.