New Delhi, April 6: In a move that could delay and possibly scuttle the biggest acquisition in India’s energy sector, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today referred Vedanta Resources’ $9.6-billion buyout of Cairn India to a ministerial panel.

The move followed differences in the cabinet on whether Vedanta should be given unconditional approval for the buyout.

“It has been decided in the meeting of the CCEA that the issue of clearance of Cairn’s share sale to Vedanta should be referred to a group of ministers (GoM), which will be headed by Pranab Mukherjee,” oil minister S. Jaipal Reddy said here.

Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc, which is selling a majority of its stake in its Indian unit, and Vedanta have set April 15 as the deadline to finish the transaction.

It is unlikely that the GoM will be able to deliberate on the issues and give its report to the cabinet by April 15.

“I cannot comment on the deal. The GoM will look into it. Our efforts will be to produce a very fit report. However, I cannot indicate a time frame,” Reddy said.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who will head the GoM, said, “It (deal) has a lot of implications. So from various angles it will be examined ... Shortly, it will be done.”

The oil minister, however, said the cabinet was unanimous in making royalties cost recoverable, meaning ONGC, which owns just 30 per cent stake in the Rajasthan field, should not be expected to bear the sole responsibility of paying royalties.

The Solicitor-General of India (SGI) had earlier said the government should approve the Vedanta Resources’ acquisition of Cairn India only if the London-listed mining group agreed to equitably share royalty on oil produced from the Rajasthan fields.

The SGI had also stated that ONGC had the right of first refusal, which meant the deal could go through only if both the Indian government and ONGC agreed.

Reddy said the oil ministry presented two options to the CCEA while seeking its approval. In the first option, it suggested that Cairn should accept its partner ONGC’s claims on royalty and abide by government directives on paying cess.

Alternatively, it proposed that the government could clear the deal but use legal means to recover the royalty from the field’s revenue before calculating profit.

Following the CCEA decision, a Cairn spokesperson said, “Cairn and Vedanta continue to work with the government to secure the necessary consents and approvals.”

The decision could jeopardise the proposal of Vedanta Group firm Sesa Goa to come out with an open offer to buy 20 per cent stake from the shareholders of Cairn India.

The open offer was to start from April 11.

Under Sebi’s takeover code, it is mandatory for the acquirer to come out with an open offer to give an exit option to existing shareholders.