1. This is a petition by Ratna Infrastructure Projects Pvt. Ltd. under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘Act’) seeking the appointment of an Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the Petitioner, Ratna Infrastructure Projects Private Limited and the Respondent, Meja Urja Nigam Private Limited in Arbitration Case Nos. 1 of 2013 and 1 of 2014.

2. The facts are that the Respondent is a joint venture of National Thermal Power Corporation (‘NTPC’) and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited. The Chief Executive Officer (‘CEO’) of the Respondent is the appointing authority authorized to appoint an Arbitrator.

3. The Petitioner was awarded the work of “Site Levelling and Infrastructure Works Package for Meja Thermal Power Project” (2 X 660 MW) by a letter of Award (‘LoA’) on 18th May 2010. A formal contract was entered into between the parties in respect of the aforesaid LoA on 21st September 2010. The contract has a mechanism for dispute resolution by way of arbitration. This is contained in Clause 56 of the General Conditions of Contract (‘GCC’) which reads as follows:

“56.Except where otherwise provided for in the contract all questions