Press Release

Government Lackadaisical about Competition Law Reforms

New Delhi, August 18, 2008

New Delhi, August 18, 2008: The Corporate Affairs Ministry of the Government of India does not appear to be sincere in pursuing the competition law reforms in India, observed participants at an international seminar held here last week.

In a statement, the organisers, CUTS International, a leading consumer policy, research and advocacy group, said that their request to the Minister to address the meeting and release a toolkit for enforcing competition law in India, did not even get a response.

“Businesses can get far quicker access to the Corporate Affairs Ministry than the consumer advocacy groups. Because, that is their priority other than the fact that business lobby is far better resourced and well connected”, said CUTS International.

The seminar “Enhancing Development through Competition Culture” attracted participants from over 20 developing countries around the world.

Competition pundits such as Shyam Khemani, Phillip Brusick, Roger Nellist, Simon Evenett, Jyoti Sagar, S. Chakravarthy, S.L. Rao and Pradeep Mehta spoke at the seminar on the various facets and virtues of competition policy and law.

Amitabh Kumar, Director General of the Competition Commission of India, released a CUTS toolkit titled “Enforcing Competition Law in India” and spoke on the proposed National Competition Policy for India.

IDRC, Canada released their reader-friendly Infocus Toolkit on Competition and Development, while DFID walked the participants through their seminal “Competition Assessment Framework” – a toolkit, in particular to identify policy impediments in promoting competition.

For more information,please contact:
Pradeep S Mehta, +919829013131, psm@cuts.org

Copyright

© International Network of Civil Society Organisations on Competition