Vedanta to settle disputes over retrospective tax claims

Diversified natural resources company Vedanta Ltd. and related entities took steps to settle disputes related to the imposition of a retrospective tax in India following recent amendments to the country's tax laws.

The disputes stem from a March 2015 order by tax authorities based on a 2012 retrospective tax legislation. Recent law amendments nullified the measure.

The company said Dec. 13 that it withdrew an income tax appeal pending before a tribunal in Delhi and pulled back a writ petition filed before the Delhi High Court. Its parent company, Vedanta Resources Ltd., also filed an application to withdraw the claim and terminate arbitral proceedings pending before the Permanent Court for Arbitration in the International Court of Justice.

Vedanta Ltd. and related entities declared that no further proceedings or claims will be initiated in any court or tribunal in India or abroad.

In 2015, Vedanta Resources filed a notice of claim after the Indian government served subsidiary Cairn India Ltd. a tax demand for about 204.95 billion Indian rupees for allegedly failing to deduct withholding tax from capital gains from 2006 to 2007 linked to the transfer of Cairn India Holdings Ltd. shares by Cairn UK Holdings Ltd. to Cairn India as part of an internal reorganization.

As of Dec. 13, US$1 was equivalent to 75.79 Indian rupees.