India's antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), has changed the way India does deals. It has recently proposed amendments in the competition law, yet to be notified, that are set to bring about some meaningful changes in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India.

In this episode of Big Deal, Ashok Kumar Gupta, Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India discusses the changes proposed and their impact on deals and dominance.

The new Bill intends to broaden the scope of anti-competitive agreements, quicken approvals for M&A, and reduce litigation.

Asked about India Inc’s concerns about seizure and raids powers vested in the DG, Gupta said, "The search and seizure powers were already available with the director general. In the existing statutory architecture, the director general has been vested with search and seizure powers, which is deriving from The Companies Act.

He added, "The Bill now proposes to make provision of the Competition Act as self-contained, without reference to The Companies Act. Let me also point out that search and seizure operations would be carried out only with the authorisation of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, as is provided even now."

On the industry’s expectations of faster M&A clearances post-amendment, Gupta referred to the "trust-based regime" and said: “The average number of days to approve M&As has already come down to 17 working days.”

Watch the video for more.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Aug 18, 2022 5:59 PM IST