CCI rejects complaint against Amul, NDDB

CCI has rejected allegations of unfair and anti-competitive ways against Amul Dairy and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) with regard to conditions of a tender floated by Amul.
The party floating the tender is a consumer and has the right to decide on the appropriate eligibility conditions, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said while rejecting the complaint.
It was alleged that Amul under the aegis of the board floated a tender for various products for its dairy plant in Gujarat and specified only one manufacturer under the product name 'burner', thus indulging in anti-competitive practices by making one manufacturer a preferred supplier.

The regulator observed that a procurer, as a consumer, can stipulate certain technical specifications in the tender document as per its requirements which by themselves cannot be deemed anti-competitive.
Dismissing the complaint, CCI said "in a market economy, consumers' choice is considered as sacrosanct and in such an economy, a consumer must be allowed to exercise its choice freely while purchasing goods and services in the market".
Further, the watchdog said that from the list of items provided in the tender, for each product (except the burner), Amul has given names of more than one manufacturers, indicating that it is open to procuring from other manufacturers.