CCI needs to be abreast of global best practices on mergers: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the Competition Commission of India (CCI) would need to keep pace with global developments on the merger and acquisition front and combine them with Indian laws.

Speaking at the launch of CCI’s new offices in Navi Mumbai, the finance minister stressed upon the need for the federal competition watchdog to communicate more.

“As we move towards a digital economy, the challenges that digitisation brings are also very important for us, we can’t ignore them. They are very important issues, particularly for competition authorities. It will also be benchmarked against global best practices,” the FM said.

Sitharaman said that in an increasingly globalised and digitised world, companies were carrying out mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers across the value chain, with there being holding companies, shell companies etc.

“Issues of fair competition do arise in such a situation. They have to be fairly dealt with as per the law of the land. The CCI can keep one eye on Indian law and evolution of competition and fair trade laws. But it equally has to keep an eye on what is developing in other parts of the world and benchmark it against best practices that can be brought to India’s advantage,” she said.