11 real estate companies under scanner: CCI

Within a week of the CBI arresting senior bankers in the housing finance racket, the competition watchdog CCI today said 11 real estate companies are already under its scanner.

"I can only say that of the 137 cases that we are handling, 11 pertain to the real estate sector," Competition Commission of India Chairman Dhanendra Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of an Assocham event here, without disclosing the names of the companies.

CCI looks into violation of anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominance by corporates.

Kumar said complaints had been received under sections 3 and 4 of the Competition Act 2002, which deal with anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position, respectively.

He said this while responding to a query if the CCI plans to look into the companies involved in the housing finance scam, which led to the arrest of LIC housing finance Chairman Ramachandran Nair and seven other senior bank officials.

Last week, the Central Bureau of Investigation had booked the officials for allegedly colluding with loan arranger firm Money Matters and overlooking regulatory guidelines for granting approvals, for their individual monetary gains.

The agency has also sought explanation from private companies who benefited from an alleged cross-country scam.

D B Realty, Adani and a few other companies have already sent their representatives with relevant documents today, according to a report.