Cairn India denies bribing MP for taking land for pipeline

Cairn India on Tuesday denied a charge by a Congress MP that the company had offered bribes to him and said vested interests were trying to stall a project of national importance.

Reacting to the charge by Vikrambhai Arjanbhai Maadam in Lok Sabha, a Cairn India spokesperson said the "allegations levelled by Maadam are completely false and are vehemently denied".

"The creserves its rights to seek legal remedies against an attempt to malign the reputation of the company and its employees," Cairn India spokesperson said.

The spokesperson refuted the allegation saying no land of any farmer was taken for laying the pipeline to transport oil from its Rajasthan fields to Gujarat coast.

The company took the land for laying the pipeline on lease from local people.

It laid the pipeline at least 6 meters below ground, properly levelled the land and returned it to farmers who are using it to cultivate crops, it said.