Govt may give oilfield in lieu of $1.4 bn it has to pay Cairn, save overseas assets Premium Cairn had initiated an international arbitration after Indian government in 2014 used a two-year old law to raise a Rs10,247 crore demand on a decade old internal reorganisation of the company’s unit in the country. 5 min read . Updated: 31 Jan 2021, 02:15 PM IST PTI Cairn Energy gave India its biggest onland oil discovery but exited the country after it was slapped with a ₹10,247-crore tax demand using a legislation that gave the government the powers to tax companies retrospectively Share Via Read Full Story New Delhi: The government may give Cairn Energy one of the surrendered oil fields such as Ratna R-Series in lieu of the USD 1.4 billion it has to pay to the British firm, helping prevent seizure of foreign assets in case of default as well as get an experienced operator in struggling E&P sector, sources said.