AGREEMENT

BETWEEN

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA

AND

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SULTANATE OF OMAN

FOR THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION

OF INVESTMENTS

The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Sultanate of Oman
(hereinafter referred to as the “Contracting Parties”);

Desiring to create conditions favourable for fostering greater investment by investors of one State
in the territory of the other State;

Recognising that the encouragement and reciprocal protection under international agreement of
such investment will be conducive to the stimulation of individual business initiative and will
increase prosperity in both States;

Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1

Definitions

For the purposes of this Agreement:

(a) “Companies” means:

(i) In respect of India: Corporations, firms and associations incorporated, constituted

or established Under the law in force in any part of India;

(ii) In respect of Oman: Corporations, firms and associations incorporated or

constituted under the law in force in Oman.

(b) “investment” means every kind of asset established or acquired, including changes in
form of such investment, in accordance with the national laws of the Contracting Party in
 whose territory the investment is made and in particular, though not exclusively,
includes:

(i) movable and immovable property as well as other rights such as mortgages, liens
or pledges;

(ii) shares in, stock and debentures of a company and any other similar forms of
participation in a company;

(iii) right to money or to any performance under contract having a financial value;

(iv) Intellectual property rights in accordance with the relevant laws of the respective
Contracting Party;

(v) business concessions conferred by law or under contract, including concessions

to search for and extract oil and other minerals.

(c) “investors” means any national or company of a Contracting Party.

(d) “nationals” means:

(i) in respect of India: persons deriving their status as Indian nationals from the law
In force in India.

(ii) in respect of Oman: natural person having the Omani nationality in accordance
with the Sultanate of Oman laws.

(e) “returns” means the monetary amounts yielded by an investment such as profit, interest,
capital gains, dividends, royalties and fees;

(f) “territory” means:

(i) In respect of India: the territory of the Republic of India including its territorial
waters and the airspace above it and other maritime zones including the
Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf over which the Republic of India
has sovereignty, sovereign rights or exclusive jurisdiction in accordance with its
laws in force, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and
International Law.

(ii) in respect of Oman: lands, maritime areas and territorial waters and beyond over
which the Sultanate of Oman has sovereign rights in accordance with its local
law and the international law.
 ARTICLE 2

Scope of the Agreement

This Agreement shall apply to all investments made by investors of either Contracting Party in
the territory of the other Contracting Party, admitted in accordance with its laws and regulations,
whether made before or after the coming into force of this Agreement.

ARTICLE 3

Promotion and Protection of Investment

(1) Each Contracting Party shall encourage and create favourable conditions for investors of
the other Contracting Party to make investments in its territory, and admit such
investments in accordance with its laws.

(2) Investments and returns of investors of each Contracting Party shall at all times be
accorded fair and equitable treatment in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

ARTICLE 4

National Treatment and Most-favoured-nation Treatment

(1) Each Contracting Party shall accord to investments of investors of the other Contracting
Party, treatment which shall not be less favourable than that accorded either to
investments of its own investors or to investments of investors of any third State.

(2) In addition, each Contracting Party shall accord to investors of the other Contracting
Party, including in respect of returns on their investments, treatment which shall not be
less favourable than that accorded to investors of any third State.

(3) The provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) above shall not be construed so as to oblige one
Contracting Party to extend to the investors of the other the benefit of any treatment,
preference or privilege resulting from:

(a) any existing or future customs union or similar international agreement to which
it is or may become a party, or

(b) any matter pertaining wholly or mainly to taxation.

ARTICLE 5

Expropriation
(1) Investments of investors of either Contracting Party shall not be nationalised.
expropriated or subjected to measures having effect equivalent to nationalisation or
expropriation (hereinafter referred to as “expropriation”) in the territory of the other
Contracting Party except for a public purpose in accordance with law on a non-
discriminatory basis and against fair and equitable compensation. Such compensation
shall amount to the genuine value of the investment expropriated immediately before the
expropriation or before the impending expropriation became public knowledge,
whichever is the earlier, shall include interest at a fair and equitable rate until the date of
payment, shall be made without unreasonable delay. be effectively realizable and be
freely transferable.

(2) The Investor affected shall have a right, under the law of the Contracting Party making
the expropriation, to review, by a judicial or other independent authority of that Party, of
his or its case and of the valuation of his or its investment in accordance with the
principles set out in paragraph (1) of this Article. The Contracting party making the
expropriation shall make every endeavour to ensure that such review is carried out
promptly.

(3) Where a Contracting Party expropriates the assets of a company which is incorporated or
constituted under the law in force in any part of its own territory, and in which investors
of the other Contracting Party own shares, it shall ensure that the provisions of paragraph
(1) of this Article are applied to the extent necessary to ensure fair and equitable
compensation in respect of their investment to such investors of the other Contracting
Party who are owners of those shares.

ARTICLE 6

Compensation for Losses

Investors of one Contracting Party whose investments in the territory of the other Contracting
Party suffer losses owing to war or other armed conflict, a state of national emergency or civil
disturbances in the territory of the latter Contracting Party shall be accorded by the latter
Contracting Party treatment, as regards restitution, indemnification, compensation or other
settlement, no less favourable than that which the latter Contracting Party accords to its own
investors or to investors of any third States. Resulting payments shall be freely transferable.

ARTICLE 7

Repatriation of Investment and Returns

(1) Each Contracting Party shall permit all funds of an investor of the other Contracting Party
related to an investment in its territory to be freely transferred, without undue delay. Such
funds may include:
 (a) Capital and additional capital amounts used to maintain and increase
investments;

(b) Net operating profits including dividends and interest in proportion to their share-
holding;

(c) Repayments of any loan, including interest thereon, relating to the investment;

(d) Payment of royalties and services fees relating to the investment;

(e) Proceeds from sales of their shares;

(f) Proceeds received by investors in case of sale or partial sale or liquidation;

(g) The earnings of citizens/nationals of one Contracting Party who work in

connection with investment in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) of this Article shall affect the transfer of any compensation
under Article 6 of this Agreement.

(3) Unless otherwise agreed to between the parties, currency transfer under paragraph 1 of
this Article shall be permitted in the currency of the original investment or any other
convertible currency. Such transfer shall be made at the prevailing market rate of
exchange on the date of transfer.

ARTICLE 8

Subrogation

Where one Contracting Party or its designated agency has guaranteed any indemnity against
noncommercial risks in respect of an investment by any of its investors in the territory of the
other Contracting Party and has made payment to such investors in respect of their claims under
this Agreement, the other Contracting Party agrees that the first Contracting Party or its
designated agency is entitled by virtue of subrogation to exercise the rights and assert the claims
of those investors. The subrogated rights or claims shall not exceed the original rights or claims
of such Investors.

ARTICLE 9

Settlement of Disputes Between an Investor and a Contracting party

(1) Any dispute between an investor of one Contracting Party and the other Contracting
Party In relation to an investment of the former under this Agreement shall, as far as
possible, be settled amicably through negotiations between the parties to the dispute.
(2) Any such dispute which has not been amicably settled within a period of six months may,
if both parties agree, be submitted:

(a) to resolution, in accordance with the law of the Contracting Party which has
admitted the investment to that Contracting Party’s competent judicial or
administrative bodies: or

(b) to international conciliation under the Conciliation Rules of the United Nations
Commission on International Trade Law.

(3) Should the Parties fail to agree on a dispute settlement procedure provided under
paragraph (2) of this Article or where a dispute is referred to conciliation but conciliation
proceedings are terminated other than by signing of a settlement agreement, the dispute
may be referred to Arbitration. The Arbitration procedure shall be as follows:

(a) if the Contracting Party of the investors and the other Contracting Party are both
parties to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment disputes between
States and nationals of other States, 1965 and the investor consents in writing to
submit the dispute to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment
Disputes such a dispute shall be referred to the Centre; or

(b) if both parties to the dispute so agree, under the Additional Facility for the
Administration of Conciliation, Arbitration and Fact-Finding Proceedings; or

(c) to an ad hoc arbitral tribunal by either party to the dispute in accordance with the
Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law,
1976, subject to the following modifications:

(i) The appointing authority under Article 7 of the Rules shall be the
President, the Vice- President or the next senior judge of the
International Court of Justice, who is not a national of either Contracting
Party. The third arbitrator shall not be a national of either Contracting
Party.

(ii) The parties shall appoint their respective arbitrators within two months.

(iii) The arbitral award shall be made in accordance with the provisions of
this Agreement.

(iv) The arbitral tribunal shall state the basis of its decision and give reasons
upon the request of either party.
 ARTICLE 10

Disputes between the Contracting Parties

(1) Disputes between the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of
this Agreement should, as far as possible, be settled through negotiations.

(2) If a dispute between the Contracting parties cannot thus be settled within six months from
the time the dispute arose, it shall upon the request of either Contracting Party, be
submitted to an arbitral tribunal.

(3) Such an arbitral tribunal shall be constituted for each individual case in the following
way. Within two months of the receipt of the request for arbitration, each Contracting
party shall appoint one member of the tribunal. Those two members shall then select a
national if a third State who on approval by the two contracting Parties shall be appointed
Chairman of the tribunal. The Chairman shall be appointed within two months from the
date of appointment of the other two members.

(4) If within the periods specified in paragraph (3) of this Article the necessary appointments
have not been made, either Contracting Party may, in the absence of any other agreement,
Invite the President of the International Court of Justice to make any necessary
appointments. If the President is a national of either Contracting Party or if he is
otherwise prevented from discharging the said function, the Vice President shall be
invited to make the necessary appointments. If the Vice President is a national of either
Contracting Party or if he too is prevented from discharging the said function, the
Member of the International Court of Justice next in seniority who is not a national of
either Contracting Party shall be invited to make the necessary appointments.

(5) The arbitral tribunal shall reach its decision by a majority of votes. Such decisions shall
be binding on both Contracting Parties. Each Contracting Party shall bear the cost of its
own member of the tribunal and of its representation in the arbitral proceedings: the cost
of the Chairman and the remaining costs shall be borne in equal parts by the Contracing
Parties. The tribunal may, however, in its discretion direct that a higher proportion of
costs shall be borne by one of the two Contracting Parties, and this award shall be
binding on both Contracting Parties. The tribunal shall determine its own procedure.

ARTICLE 11

Entry and Sojourn of Personnel

A Contracting Party shall, subject to its laws applicable from time to time relating to the entry and
sojourn of non-citizens, permit natural persons of the other Contracting Party and personnel
employed by companies of the other Contracting party to enter and remain in its territory for the
purpose of engaging in activities connected with investments.
 ARTICLE 12

Applicable Laws

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, all investment shall be governed by the
laws in force in the territory of the Contracting Party in which such investments are
made.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Article nothing in this Agreement precludes the
host Contracting Party from taking action for the protection of its essential security
interests or in circumstances of extreme emergency in accordance with its laws normally
and reasonably applied on a non discriminatory basis.

ARTICLE 13

Application of other Rules

If the provisions of law of either Contracting Party or obligations under international law existing
at present or established hereafter between the Contracting Parties in addition to the present
Agreement contain rules, whether general or specific, entitling investments by investors of the
other Contracting Party to a treatment more favourable than is provided for by the present
agreement, such rules shall to the extent that they are more favourable prevail over the present
Agreement.

ARTICLE 14

Entry into Force

This Agreement shall be subject to ratification and shall enter into force on the date of exchange
of Instruments of Ratification.

ARTICLE 15

Duration and Termination

(1) This Agreement shall remain in force for a period of ten years and thereafter It shall be
deemed to have been automatically extended unless either Contracting Party gives to the
other Contracting Party a written notice of its intention to terminate the Agreement. The
Agreement shall stand terminated one year from the date of receipt of such written notice.

(2) Notwithstanding termination of this Agreement pursuant to paragraph (1) of this Article,
the Agreement shall continue to be effective for a further period of twenty years from the
 date of its termination in respect of investments made or acquired before the date of
termination of this Agreement.

In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments,
have signed this Agreement.

Done at New Delhi on this 2nd day of April, 1997 in two originals each in the Hindi, English and
Arabic languages, all texts being equally authoritative.

In case of any divergence, the English text shall prevail.

Sd/- Sd/-

For the Government of For the Government of

The Republic of India the Sultanate of Oman