This is the part of arbitration that decides whether the whole exercise was worth anything, and it is governed by a provision that changed significantly in 2015.
When the award becomes enforceable
Under Section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, where the time for making an application to set aside the award under Section 34 has expired, the award is enforced in accordance with the Civil Procedure Code, in the same manner as if it were a decree of the court. So you do not need a separate suit and you do not need the court to convert it into a decree.
A challenge no longer automatically stays it
Before the 2015 amendment, merely filing a Section 34 application operated as an automatic stay, and that was routinely abused to delay payment for years. Now, filing a challenge does not by itself stay enforcement. The award debtor must apply separately for a stay, and the court may impose conditions, commonly requiring a deposit or security for the awarded sum. For a money award the court is directed to have due regard to the provisions on stay of a money decree.
An award holder is in a much stronger position than a decree holder waiting out an appeal. Start execution as soon as the three month period expires, and if a Section 34 application is filed, resist the stay application and press for security as a condition. That single step is usually what converts an award into money.
The execution itself
File an execution petition before the court that would have jurisdiction over the subject matter, or where the assets are located. The full range of Order 21 CPC powers is available: attachment and sale of property, garnishee orders against bank accounts, attachment of salary and receivables, appointment of a receiver, and in appropriate cases arrest and detention.
As with any execution, success depends on identifying assets. Use Order 21 Rule 41 to have the award debtor examined on oath about their assets where you do not know what to attach.
Foreign awards
An award made in a country notified as a reciprocating territory under the New York Convention is enforced under Part II, Sections 44 to 49. The party seeking enforcement produces the original award and the arbitration agreement. Enforcement can be refused only on the narrow grounds in Section 48, which broadly mirror the Convention. Once the court is satisfied the award is enforceable, it is deemed to be a decree of that court. Note that there is no separate proceeding to "set aside" a foreign award in India; the challenge is made at the seat, and here it is resisted at the enforcement stage.