The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has asked the Planning Commission to formulate a draft Bill on Dispute Resolution in public contracts in consultation with all stakeholders and Ministries. He said dispute resolution in large public contracts is an area of growing concern and the first steps is to improving the institutional arrangement for dispute settlement.

Following the rapid expansion of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) which have already attracted investment of a few lakh crore of rupees in different sectors, there are concerns about the dispute resolution mechanisms in place. As a result of this expansion, contractual disputes have been rising steadily and it has now become essential to consider an institutional arrangement that would address such disputes expeditiously.

The Planning Commission will conceptualise this further and present a draft bill for consideration of the Government.