Benefits of sponsorship (Virtual Conference)

• E-Meet influencers and decision-makers
• Reach out to and engage with new or active prospects
• Generate high quality sales leads
• Increase brand recognition
• Target a captive and engaged audience
• Drive website traffic through social media promotions
• Position your company as the thought-leader in your industry

For  sponsorship opportunities contact:
Tania Agarwal
Email: tania.agarwal@indiainfrastructure.com
Tel: +91-11-43520056, 41034615 | Mob: +91-9953452964

For delegate registrations and sponsorship opportunities, contact:
Tania Agarwal
Email: tania.agarwal@indiainfrastructure.com
Tel: +91-9711588987

• Infrastructure project implementation and execution continue to be fraught with legal challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic is expected to further deepen the legal issues faced. Inordinate project delays will have a cascading effect on contractual obligations. While the pandemic has been categorised as a force majeure event, its classification as political or non-political is unclear. This will have a strong bearing on the extent and timeliness of relief measures and compensation.
• In the past three to four months, the infrastructure sectors have witnessed a significant increase in Covid-related disputes and arbitration cases. To reduce the build-up of arbitration cases, agencies such as NHAI and TRAI are taking specific steps to fast-track the arbitration process. There is a greater focus on the use of technology and digital tools such as online dispute resolution and virtual hearings, e-discovery of documents and data management systems to reduce delays in the arbitration process.
• The ongoing disruptions have also brought gaps in the exiting concession and financial agreements to the forefront. The extent of relief is not uniform across various PPP contracts. The standardisation of contracts is missing. Thus, for now, safeguards would vary from case to case based on the agreement amongst the concerned parties.
• In the case of EPC projects, contract requirements are not well defined. Moreover, contractual obligations of the construction player in a pandemic situation need legal attention if arbitration is to be avoided by the parties involved.
• The government has taken a number of proactive steps to make the legal process effective. On June 5, 2020, the Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, was announced with the insertion of section 10A, which has practically suspended the applicability of sections 7, 9 and 10 of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy, 2016, for the initiation of fresh bankruptcy proceedings against persons impacted by Covid-19, for at least six months up to a maximum of one year.
• Recently, an interministerial group approved changes to the BOT model concession agreement (MCA) for highway projects. The revised MCA includes improves provision in areas such as revenue assessment, dispute resolution and land acquisition.
• Going forward, there is a strong case for building judicial capacity to adjudge force majeure cases and take the necessary steps to minimise legal issues. Strengthening the institutional capacity to handle disputes is one such area.
• The mission of this conference is to highlight and understand the unresolved legal issues in the infrastructure sectors, identify the regulatory challenges that have come to the forefront since the Covid-19 outbreak, highlight the recent initiatives, and discuss the way forward. The conference will also offer a platform for different stakeholders to share their experience and exchange views and opinions.

MANAGING RISKS AND DEFAULTS DURING COVID-19

• What are the recent trends with regard to the management of legal risks across the infrastructure sectors?
• What are the key issues? What are the key initiatives taken to mitigate the legal risks posed by the Covid-19 outbreak?
• What are the mitigation strategies?

IMPACT OF FORCE MAJEURE ON CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS

• What are the challenges associated with invocation of force majeure?
• What are the regulatory interventions needed to address these?
• What are the expectations from the government?

IMPACT OF FORCE MAJEURE ON FINANCIAL AGREEMENTS

• What are the challenges associated with the invocation of force majeure?
• What are the regulatory interventions needed to address these?
• What are the expectations from the government?

REGULATORS’ VIEWPOINT

• What has been the experience so far? What are the strategies for faster dispute resolution?
• What are the cost and time overruns associated with arbitration?
• What are the Covid-related challenges being faced in dispute resolution? What are the other issues and concerns?

MANAGING DISPUTES: CHALLENGES, STRATEGIES AND BEST PRACTICES

• What are the challenges in managing the cost and time overruns in dispute cases?
• What are the challenges in computing claims? What are the strategies being adopted to overcome these?
• What are the global best practices? Which is the most relevant in India?

THE WAY FORWARD FOR CONTRACT RENEGOTIATION

• What are the challenges faced in contract renegotiations?
• What has been the impact of Covid-19 on contracts?
• What are the steps needed to improve contract renegotiations?

DEVELOPERS’/CONTRACTORS’PERSPECTIVE

• What has been the experience of contractors and developers with regard to legal challenges in India?
• What are the key concerns? What has been the impact of Covid-19?
• What are the expectations from the government and regulators?

INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY CODE ORDINANCE, 2020

• What are the recent amendments in the IBC in light of Covid-19? What is the likely impact of these?
• What has been the overall experience with IBC in the resolution of stressed assets?
• What are the legal risks and challenges involved?

UPDATE ON LAND ACQUISITION

• What are the unresolved issues in land acquisition? How are these being addressed?
• How have the land acquisition laws evolved over the years?
• What has been the impact of the amendments?

LEGAL ASPECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

• What are the legal and regulatory aspects of environment laws for infrastructure projects?
• How have the environmental laws evolved over the years?
• What are the key issues and challenges? How are these being addressed?

REVISITING THE BOT CONCESSION AGREEMENT: EXPECTED AMENDMENTS AND IMPACT

• What are the key amendments being made to the BOT concession agreement?
• What are the stakeholders expectations?
• What is the way forward for BOT in the road sector?

STRESSED ASSETS: LEGAL ASPECTS AND PROVISIONS

• What are the legal aspects of handling stressed assets?
• What are the key issues and challenges?
• What are the stakeholders’ expectations from the regulators and the government?

NEED FOR CONSTRUCTION LAW

• Is there a need for construction law in India?
• What would be the key benefits? What are the issues and challenges?
• How should this process be initiated?
• What can be learnt from the global experience?

FOCUS ON DISPUTE RESOLUTION: CURRENT PRACTICES AND FUTURE STRATEGIES

• What has been the experience with regard to dispute resolution?
• What are the alternate dispute resolution mechanisms in India?
• What have been the key strategies adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic (online dispute resolution, virtual hearing, e-discovery, etc.)?
• What are the key issues and challenges?

• Infrastructure developers (roads, railways, ports, airports, power, oil and gas, coal, mining, water and waste management, and urban transportation)
• Policymakers and regulators
• Commercial banks and financial institutions
• Legal firms
• Industry analysts
• Financial/Sectoral advisory firms
• Tax and other sector consultants
• Infrastructure-related government agencies
• Bilateral and multilateral agencies
• EPC firms
• Asset reconstruction companies
• Infrastructure fund managers
• Etc