India will soon become the hub of arbitration, says Law Minister

Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal speaks during the inaugural session of the conference on ‘Institutional Arbitration: An Effective Framework for Dispute Resolution’, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on June 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI

New Delhi

Emphasising the importance of Institutional arbitration, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Saturday (June 14, 2025) said that India needs a strong ecosystem of alternative dispute resolution that will reduce the burden on courts and also strengthen the environment of economic confidence in the country.

Speaking at a conference on ‘Institutional Arbitration: An Effective Framework for Dispute Resolution’, organised by the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, at Bharat Mandapam, Mr. Meghwal said that the organisations should be ready to be both flexible and rigid, depending on the need of the hour, to ensure that its interests remain protected and it contributes towards nation building.

“We need to provide a vibrant ecosystem for Alternative Dispute Resolution, which includes arbitration, mediation and conciliation. This will offer additional convenience to investors and businessmen. More importantly, it will reduce the burden of cases on Indian courts,” the Minister said.

Terming arbitration as part of Indian culture, Mr. Meghwal said that the concept got “distorted” somewhere down the line and other countries became the hub of international arbitration.

“India will soon emerge as the new hub of international arbitration,” he added.

The Minister’s remarks came after ONGC Chairman Arun Kumar Singh pointed out that there is a need to make the procedure of arbitration ‘time-bound’, which is quintessential for the business ecosystem. He also said that the arbitration should be “more corporate” and “less legal”.

Pointing out the government’s efforts to make arbitration faster and easier, Law Secretary Anju Rathi Rana said that a recent directive from the Department of Legal Affairs pushes for reducing judicial interventions and using institutional and not ad hoc arbitration.

Chairman of India International Arbitration Centre, Justice (retd) Hemant Gupta, pushed for a change in the mindsets of parties to go for institutional arbitration, rather than an ad hoc system to settle commercial disputes.