escalation of ₹10,60,00,000/- was not disputed by DGMAP at the appropriate time as the said escalation had been paid till the 69th RAR after the concerned officials of DGMAP had examined and approved the same examining the calculations for the same. RW-1 had accepted that the payments were made after the calculations had been duly verified by the concerned officers including the Accounts Department and there was no material that any action had been taken against the concerned officers for accepting the calculations of escalation and payment of the said amount. However, the Arbitral Tribunal did not accept the respondent’s calculation of the enhanced escalation assuming the steel component to be 13% and the cement component to be 27%. Undoubtedly, there was a dispute regarding the constants (Kc and Ks) to be applied for computing the escalation. DGMAP had subsequently computed the escalation at ₹7,18,81,658.72/-. Apparently, keeping in view the said constants at 15:25. However, this was subject matter of serious dispute. It is apparent that whilst the Arbitral Tribunal rejected the respondent’s contention that the escalation was to be reduced and allowed Claim no.1, it also rejected the respondent’s claim for the additional escalation as claimed by it. The observations made in Paragraph no. 177 of the impugned award cannot be read to mean that the Arbitral Tribunal had accepted that the subsequent reduction of escalation from ₹10,60,00,000/- to ₹7,18,81,658.72/-, as claimed by DGMAP, was correct.
