JUDGMENT :

Shekhar B. Saraf, J.:

1. The petitioner M/s Zillion Infraprojects Pvt. Ltd. has filed this application under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) praying for appointment of a sole arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes which have arisen between the parties in relation to the Letter of Intent dated May 26, 2011. The registered office of the petitioner is located at 5th Floor, Anushka Shopping Mall, Plot No. 2, Gar Trade Centre, Sector 11, Rohini, New Delhi – 110085.

2. The respondent is Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited having its registered office at BHEL House, Siri Fort, New Delhi – 110049 and having its local office PSER Office at DJ-9/1, Sector II, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700091.

Relevant Facts

3. The respondent had awarded the petitioner a contract worth INR 39,82,66,061/-vide Letter of Intent (‘LOI’) No. PSER:SCT:ABJ-B1183:10:LOI:2371 dated September 21, 2010, and work order contract dated October 28, 2010 for erection, testing, commissioning, trial run, and handing over of Boiler etc., ESP, rotating aux piping, insulation, painting etc. (Part I) along with structural steel works, transfer points, conveyer galleries, connecting platforms, etc. (Part II) for Package A of 4 x 270 MW Unit – 1, Phase – I, Chandwa Thermal Power Plant, Jharkhand. The completion period for Part I was within a period of 26 months from the date of start of work, and within a period of 15 months from the date of start of work for Part II.

4. Similarly, the respondent had awarded the petitioner a contract worth INR 44,40,00,000/-vide Letter of Intent (‘LOI’) No. PSER:SCT:ABJ-B1183:11:PKG-B:LOI:2419 dated May 26, 2011 and work order contract dated August 03, 2011 for erection, testing, commissioning, trial run, and handing over of Boiler etc., ESP, rotating aux piping, insulation, painting etc. (Part I) along with structural steel works, transfer points, conveyer galleries, connecting platforms, etc. (Part II) for Package B of 4 x 270 MW Unit – 1, Phase – II, Chandwa Thermal Power Plant, Jharkhand. The completion period for Part I was within a period of 26 months from the date of start of work, and within a period of 15 months from the date of start of work for Part II.

5. Even though both LOIs and contracts were with independent scope of work, they were part of the same site and work was carried on simultaneously on locations adjacent to each other. Therefore, the communications as well as billing for the two sites were done together. The first milestone activity related to the project was completed on December 21, 2011.

6. The present arbitration petition is concerned with the Phase II LOI wherein disputes arose between the parties with regard to, among other causes, execution of the project and contractual obligations of the parties.

7. The respondent was irregular in payments of bills since October 2012 onwards and the petitioner vide emails dated January 17, 2013 and January 18, 2013 informed the respondent about the stage of the work and asked for clear instructions on whether the respondent wanted them to stop the work or temporarily demobilise the site. The petitioner also requested for payment of long standing dues against the bills raised.

8. However, the respondent vides email dated January 18, 2013 put the project on ‘Hold’ and further informed the petitioner that the contractual period of completion of project cannot be extended. It also asked the petitioner to submit final bills and to take immediate action to reconcile the issued materials.

9. On December 12, 2014, the petitioner wrote an email to the respondent, and explained the whole situation of the project since the inception and claimed Rs. 12,61,33,305/-as costs against idling of resources as well as expenses incurred by it till November 30, 2014 for execution of the contract. The said email was followed by a letter dated December 15, 2014. The respondent, however, failed to make any such payment.

10. Post the aforesaid lett