The Legal 500

Certain important and recent legal developments in this area are set out below.

Infrastructure

GOI provides INR 1.73 Trillion for Infrastructure Sector for the Financial Year 2010-2011

The GOI in the budget for the Financial Year (“FY”) 2010-2011 has allocated INR 1.73 Trillion for the development of infrastructure in the country which accounts for over 46 per cent of the total plan allocation for the FY 2010-2011.

Norms for highway projects pact changed

The threshold limit in the conflict of interest clause in the model concession agreement for highway projects has been increased from 5 per cent to 25 per cent, thereby allowing any two Special Purpose Vehicles (“SPV”) with a common partner having up to 25 per cent stake to bid for same project.

Revised Model Request for Qualification for Public Private Partnership Projects

The Ministry of Finance ("MoF"), GOI, has issued a revised model Request For Qualification ("RFQ") for pre-qualification of bidders for Public Private Partnership ("PPP") projects keeping in view the experience gained in implementation of a large number of PPP projects using the RFQ document and feedback from Ministries as well as representations from various industry associations.

Certain important and recent legal developments in this area are set out below.

External Commercial Borrowings (“ECB”) for Infrastructure

The GOI has decided to extend the permission to avail ECB under the approval route up to December 31, 2009 for the development of integrated township, as defined in Press Note 3 (2002), dated January 04, 2002 issued by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GOI.   

Information Technology Investment Regions The Government of India ("GOI"), Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal to create Information Technology Investment Regions (“ITIRs”). These ITIRs would have excellent infrastructure and support through investor friendly policies. ITIRs would be a combination of Information Technology (“IT”)/ Information Technology Enabled Services (“ITES”), Electronic Hardware Manufacturing (“EHM”) units, public utilities, residential areas, social infrastructure and administrative services.

New Rehabilitation Policy

The Government of India (“GOI”) has approved the National Policy on Rehabilitation and Resettlement, 2007 (“NPRR”), that promises alternative land and future employment to those displaced in various land-related projects. The NPRR has replaced the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project Affected Families, 2003.

The Government of India (“GOI”) has tightened the ECB norms to restrict the flow of foreign funds into the country especially in real estate sector.

RBI bars Non Banking Financial Companies (“NBFCs”) from real estate investment The RBI has placed restrictions on finance companies investing in real estate.

Certain important and recent enactments and legal developments in this area are set out below.

Certain important and recent legal developments in this area are set out below.

Certain important and recent case law development in this practice area is set out below.