Supreme Court Directs NHAI To Deposit 50% of ₹1,019 Crore Award In Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway Dispute
Kirit Singhania
12 Feb 2026 8:02 PM IST
The Supreme Court has recently modified a Delhi High Court order that had directed the National Highways Authority of India to deposit the entire arbitral award of over Rs. 1,019 crore in its dispute with Vadodara Mumbai Expressway PKG-08 Pvt. Ltd., and instead ordered it to deposit 50% of the total amount referred to in its order.
A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan was hearing special leave petitions arising out of the High Court's November 19, 2025 order passed in proceedings under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
“We modify the order passed by the High Court to the extent that NHAI shall deposit 50% of the total amount referred to above with the Registry of the Delhi High Court within a period of eight weeks from today.” the Court directed.
The High Court had directed NHAI to deposit Rs 5,32,78,50,000 awarded for Phase VIII and Rs 4,86,24,13,440 awarded for Phase IX, aggregating Rs 101,902,633,440. The Supreme Court noted that with interest the amount came to Rs. 1,197,72,60,596 as on February 9, 2026. The awards were granted in favour of the concessionaire towards adjusted equity.
The Delhi High Court had declined to grant an unconditional stay on the money award and directed NHAI to deposit the entire awarded amount along with interest, permitting withdrawal subject to furnishing an irrevocable and unconditional bank guarantee drawn on a nationalised bank to the satisfaction of the Registrar General.
Modifying this direction, the Supreme Court ordered that once 50% of the total amount is deposited, the respondent shall be entitled to withdraw it upon furnishing an irrevocable and unconditional bank guarantee drawn on a nationalised bank to the satisfaction of the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court.
“Once the said 50% amount is deposited by the NHAI, the same shall be withdrawn by the respondent(s) by furnishing an irrevocable and unconditional bank guarantee drawn on a nationalised bank, to the satisfaction of the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court,” the Bench said.
Background
The dispute arose from a concession agreement dated June 22, 2021 for construction of an eight-lane access-controlled expressway from km 154.600 to km 190.000 of the Vadodara Mumbai Expressway, known as the Jujuwa to Gandeva section, in the State of Gujarat under Bharatmala Pariyojna Phase I Package VIII and Package IX.
NHAI issued deemed termination notices alleging failure by the concessionaire to achieve financial close within the stipulated period. The dispute was referred to arbitration.
By an award dated August 1, 2025, the arbitral tribunal, by majority, granted ₹5,32,78,50,000 for Phase VIII and ₹4,86,24,13,440 for Phase IX in favour of the concessionaire towards adjusted equity.
Challenging the award, NHAI sought an unconditional stay before the Delhi High Court, which declined to grant such a stay and directed the deposit of the entire awarded amount along with interest.
While disposing of the special leave petitions, the Supreme Court requested the High Court to ensure as far as possible that the Section 34 petitions are taken up for final hearing on July 14, 2026, as already fixed.
For Petitioner: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta; Advocate Ankur Mittal; Advocate Abhay Gupta; Advocate Ankur Saboo; Advocate Aman Mehta; Advocate Bhuvan Kapoor; Advocate Astha Singh; AOR Sucharu Garg; Advocate Aviraj Pandey; Advocate Rabaica Jaiswal.
For Respondent: AOR D.S.K. Legal; Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi; Senior Advocate C. S Vaidyanathan; Senior Advocate D.S. Naidu; Advocate Samir Malik; Advocate Avishkar Singhvi; Advocate Varun Kalra; Advocate Ronak Shankar Agarwal; Advocate Laimayum Nidhiram Sharma; Advocate Vinayak Goel.