Govt not playing proactive role in making India an arbitration hub: Datar

The government is not playing a "proactive role" in making India an international arbitration hub, senior advocate Arvind Datar has said.

Datar, who is also the director of Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre (NPAC), said though there are thousands of domestic arbitration cases in India, most public sector undertakings (PSUs) have dropped the arbitration clause.

"Indian government is not as proactive as other countries like Singapore which has a high reputation as an arbitration hub... They (PSUs) still go ad-hoc. Institutional arbitration should be there. It should be fixed as to which centre one should go with an arbitration case," he told PTI during an interaction.

Datar said that to make India an international hub of arbitration, "we need a favourable ecosystem where arbitration should finish on time".

"It should start on time and finish on time and ensure that it goes in a disciplined manner. Definitely I feel that the trend is no adjournments. Arbitrator knows he has a time ...