Govt clears Cairn-Vedanta deal, finally

The home ministry on Monday cleared the $8.7 billion (R43,500 crore) deal involving UK-based Cairn Energy’s sale of its 60% stake in Cairn India to NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources.

Updated on: Dec 5, 2011, 21:37:52 IST

Hindustan Times | By HT Correspondent, New Delhi

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The home ministry on Monday cleared the $8.7 billion (R43,500 crore) deal involving UK-based Cairn Energy’s sale of its 60% stake in Cairn India to NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources.

Sources said the Home Ministry, while giving the security no-objection certificate (NOC), highlighted eight areas of concern, including 64 legal proceedings against Vedanta and its subsidiaries in various courts.

The security clearance was one of the conditions that the government had set for Vedanta group buying the stake. Cairn Energy and Vedanta have already agreed to the other condition that Cairn India would pay cess and royalty on crude oil produced from its mainstay Rajasthan oilfields.

Cairn India was not paying royalty and cess on its 70% share in the Rajasthan block as per the contract. ONGC, which holds the remaining stake, pays royalty on behalf of Cairn India. An NOC from ONGC was a government pre-condition to its nod for the deal.

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