New Delhi, May 4 -- India's small businesses and startups have started adopting mediation in the dispute resolution clauses included in their contracts, Union law and justice minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said.

Mediation is an inexpensive and expedited means of resolving disputes as it is not adversarial, he said, speaking at the first National Mediation Conference in New Delhi on Saturday.

A dispute resolution clause determines how parties will resolve an issue if one arises. Commonly, most commercial contracts use arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism.

The event also marked the launch of the Mediation Association of India, a body of legal practitioners and mediation experts, which would work on suggesting best practices as well ...