New Delhi, Aug 2 (TIWN) A Bill seeking to make India a hub of arbitration for settling commercial disputes in a shorter period of time was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday by voice vote.

The government had planned some amendments in the Lok Sabha on Thursday related to the proposed arbitration council, but Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad decided against pressing them as the bill has given sufficient powers to the arbitration council to decide on arbitrators.  Had the government pressed for the amendments, the bill would have gone back to the Rajya Sabha.  "The bill will not go back to Rajya Sabha as I did not press for amendments," Prasad told PTI after the passage of the bill in Lok Sabha.  Replying to a debate on The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2019, Prasad said India is qualified to have a centre of international arbitration as it has enough qualified lawyers and skill and training facilities.  Prasad said Indians and Indian companies involved in international arbitration have to move to centres like London, Singapore or Paris.