New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) In a setback to the Cairn-Vedanta deal, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium has reaffairmed that the government can impose preconditions like equitable sharing of royalty in the all-important Rajasthan block for clearing Vedanta Resources' takeover of Cairn India.
Contrary to media reports, the nation's second highest law officer has reiterated his earlier opinion that Cairn or its successor should share cess and royalty with state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) in the Rajasthan block.
In his second opinion, which was sought by Finance Minister and head of a ministerial panel vetting the USD 9.6 billion deal Pranab Mukherjee, the SGI said, "The government is not bound to grant consent ipso facto or mechanically.