Merchant Shipping Act

Charting a New Course: Legal Implications of Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 on Indian Maritime Governance

The enactment of the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 (“MSA”) presents a landmark legislative milestone in India’s vision of becoming a global maritime hub. The MSA repeals the erstwhile Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 and introduces a regulatory environment that is aligned with the global maritime industry standards. The MSA is designed for enhancing regulatory efficiency, attracting foreign investment, and increasing Indian tonnage by liberalising key areas such as vessel ownership and registration. This note provides an analysis of the fundamental changes to the maritime sector introduced by the MSA.


clean energy | S&R Associates

Clean Energy: Issue 3 of 2025

Issue 3 of 2025 of our Roundup Series on Clean Energy covers the six-month period between April and September 2025. This Issue tracks regulatory and other key developments at both Central and State levels in the covered period with respect to solar and wind energy generation, green hydrogen and green ammonia production, tariffs, connectivity, biogas/biofuel, electric vehicles, and nuclear energy, and includes miscellaneous updates (including on hydropower and pumped storage) and key judicial decisions.


IBC Bill, 2025

IBC (Amendment) Bill, 2025: Creditor-Initiated Insolvency Resolution Process

One of the innovations proposed in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (the “Bill”) is a new resolution framework that is intended to serve as an alternative to the conventional corporate insolvency resolution process (“CIRP”) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Termed as the creditor-initiated insolvency resolution process (“CIIRP”), this process is designed as a largely out-of-court mechanism, but with the National Company Law Tribunal playing a supervisory role at key stages, including in case of a dispute, for grant of a moratorium and approval of a resolution plan. Another distinguishing feature of the CIIRP is that the corporate debtor continues to remain in control of the business (subject to certain checks and balances), in contrast to the CIRP where control is ceded to the resolution professional. This note analyzes the CIIRP framework as proposed in the Bill. For our analysis of other provisions of the Bill, please refer to our note here.


Indian Ports Act, 2025

Indian Ports Act, 2025: A Paradigm Shift in Port Regulation and Development

Foreign investment is a key contributor to India’s growth story and India continues to consistently experience growth in inflow of foreign direct investment (“FDI”). The Government of India has announced that the provisional figure of FDI inflow into India for the financial year ended March 31, 2023 was USD 71 billion and according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report, India remains a favored destination for global investors.
In this note we discuss certain key legal considerations for a foreign investor investing in India.


Draft Guidelines for Greenfield Clusters and Brownfield Shipyards - shipbuilding development scheme

Draft Guidelines for Greenfield Clusters and Brownfield Shipyards

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways issued draft greenfield shipbuilding cluster development guidelines (“Greenfield Cluster Guidelines”) and draft brownfield shipyard expansion guidelines (“Brownfield Shipyard Guidelines”) on November 06, 2025 which seek to accelerate the pace of shipbuilding in India. This update provides an overview of the Greenfield Cluster Guidelines and the Brownfield Shipyard Guidelines.


India's digital personal data protection regime

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Regime Takes Effect

On November 13, 2025, the Government of India notified the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“Rules”) under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”). These rules follow the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, which were released for public consultation and comments in January 2025.
The provisions of the DPDP Act and the Rules will come into force in three phases – with phase 1 provisions (relating to constitution of the Data Protection Board of India and other procedural provisions) becoming effective from November 14, 2025; phase 2 provisions (relating to consent managers) becoming effective in November 2026; and phase 3 provisions (substantive provisions) becoming effective in May 2027.
The Rules provide clarity on various aspects of the DPDP Act, including on consent notices, notification requirements in case of a personal data breach, conditions for registration and obligations of Consent Managers, verifiable parental consent for processing children’s data, additional obligations of Significant Data Fiduciaries, new data retention requirements for all data fiduciaries, reasonable security safeguards, and cross-border data transfers.
This note provides an overview of the key provisions under the Rules. Organizations should plan ahead and prepare for compliance under the DPDP Act and Rules.


investment in renewable energy projects

Investment in Renewable Energy Projects: Key Legal Due Diligence Considerations

India has rapidly adopted clean energy to diversify its energy mix given its climate commitments. An enabling policy framework and technological advances have resulted in broad based participation in this sector. This note considers key issues for a legal due diligence on renewable energy generating plants having regard to various stages of project development.