Cairn and Vedanta delay deadline

The deadline for Cairn Energy's deal to sell control of its Indian business to the miner Vedanta Resources has been extended for a second time as the two companies await approval from local authorities. The companies did not set a new cut-off date.

The $9.6bn (£5.9bn) deal was agreed last year and an extension last month would have seen the deadline expire today. But Cairn said yesterday that the ministers charged with looking at the deal had not met so far, forcing the companies into another postponement.