The Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA) was established in India as a joint initiative between the Government of Maharashtra and the domestic and international business and legal communities, in order to transform Mumbai into a major international financial centre. It hopes to bring most Indian cases back from the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), and to fill the gap left after LCIA India closed. Indeed, SIAC’s latest report shows that 91 percent of its international cases were brought by Indian parties.
The MCIA is led by Madhukeswar Desai, the great grandson of former Indian prime minister Morarji Desai, and is administered by Neet Sachdeva, who was previously deputy registrar at the LCIA India then practiced at ELP in Mumbai.[1]
Even though the MIAC Rules of Arbitration have come into effect on 15 June 2016 and its arbitration facilities are available since September 2016, the Centre itself will only open on 8 October 2016. The Centre aims to focus on commercial dispute and provides Arbitration Rules inspired from the best international arbitration practices in the world to ensure a cost-effective (open fee structure) and transparent arbitration process. These Rules include, among other features, procedure for multi-party or/and multi-contract cases, consolidation of proceedings, appointment of an emergency arbitrator, a procedure for expedited arbitration and scrutiny of awards.[2]
While the MCIA has not officially been launched yet, it has already hosted a case from 19 to 23 September 2016, although the Rules of LCIA India applied instead of the MCIA Rules. The case was a domestic commercial arbitration between the local subsidiary of a German conglomerate and an Indian company, relating to three contracts for the sale and purchase of coal. Claimant brought an action in payment for a delivery of coal from Indonesia, while Respondent argued in its counter-claim that Claimant breached the contract as the coal delivered did not meet the contractual specifications and as a consequence, suffered significant losses.
[1] Benjamin Button-Stephens, Mumbai centre hosts first case, 30 September 2016, available on: http://globalarbitrationreview.com/article/1068942/mumbai-centre-hosts-first-case
[2] http://mcia.org.in/news-and-events/