# Centre to amend BIT, cut local remedy wait for foreign investors 2026-08-21T11:38:59+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The government is set to amend India's model bilateral investment treaty (BIT) to allow international arbitration after one year of exhausting local remedies, instead of the current five-year clause, according to a finance ministry cabinet note seen by the Times of India. The note also proposes expanding the definition of investment from enterprise-based to asset-based, covering shares and equity instruments held for five years or more. The move aims to address a long-pending grievance of overseas investors, the report said. The current five-year period was introduced in 2015 after India faced a record number of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims, including a loss to Australian firm White Industries. That revision led to India unilaterally terminating most of its BITs, and since 2018 only six countries have signed new BITs with India. The proposed changes would also include carve-outs for subsidies, local government measures, and compulsory licensing during public health emergencies. In contrast, a commentary on Swarajya Magazine argues that India is waging a systematic war on arbitration through legislative, executive, and judicial overreach, damaging investor confidence despite government claims of improving ease of doing business. The article says the state's undermining of the arbitration framework has been collaborative and exhaustive, contradicting the government's stated goals. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Times of India frames the BIT amendment as a pragmatic government move to attract foreign investment, reporting internal consensus and quoting officials. Swarajya Magazine frames the same government as actively hostile to arbitration, accusing it of systematic institutional sabotage. The Times omits the broader critique of judicial overreach, Swarajya omits the concrete cabinet action that addresses investor concerns. The measured read: the government is simultaneously tightening regulatory control and making tactical concessions. Watch for cabinet approval and the final arbitration wait period. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 1 government-critical, 1 neutral - swarajyamag.com (government critical) Frames government as waging a war on arbitration through systematic overreach - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Reports government plan to amend BIT with factual details and official sources This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Tags: Anuradha Thakur, Bilateral Investment Treaty, Finance Ministry, investor-state dispute settlement Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/centre-to-amend-bit-cut-local-remedy-wait-for-foreign-investors/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/centre-to-amend-bit-cut-local-remedy-wait-for-foreign-investors/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/