A watchdog's watchlist: Meet Ravneet Kaur, the 1st woman ever to head CCI

Only the second woman to head a regulatory body in India, Kaur tells about her deep interest in economics, the challenges of AI, and why she might be seen as a tough taskmaster

It’s not easy to meet a regulator in an informal setting. So, this lunch with the chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) takes weeks to materialise. Ravneet Kaur, a 1988-batch Punjab cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has her days packed with antitrust cases — against Big Tech, quick commerce, and legacy businesses alike — awaiting final rulings.

 

CCI, mandated to promote and sustain competition in markets, recently turned 16. It is India’s relatively young counterpart to the US Federal Trade Commission, which is more than a century old.

 

To meet the chairperson of this vital regulator, we want to pick a fitting venue. After scouting several upscale restaurants across Delhi, we settle on Med at the India Habitat Centre (IHC) — just five minutes from Lodi Gardens and close to the CCI headquarters in Kidwai Nagar. Open only to IHC members and their guests, Med is known for its Mediterranean menu, poolside charm, and relaxed ambience. We arrive early and choose a window-side table from where this fifth-floor restaurant offers a sweeping view of Delhi’s monsoon greenery.

 

Soon, Kaur arrives — elegantly dressed in a cotton sari, smiling warmly. She is only the second woman to head an economic regulatory body in India, after Madhabi Puri Buch, former chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). A regular at Med, she’s quite clear that when dining out, she prefers non-Indian cuisine. The restaurant, then, is an easy choice.

 

She has come prepared to enjoy the afternoon, and we are soon ordering our drinks. She opts for a mango mojito, ideal for a languid summer afternoon, and we follow suit, adding a kaffir lime ginger sparkler to the mix. “I like to come here,” she says simply, and can tell she means it.

 

She studies the menu intently before we settle down to talk about work, life, and more. Though she’s a vegetarian, she encourages us to order what we like. We eventually decide on an all-vegetarian spread, leaning into seasonal greens and Mediterranean flavours.

 

As the coolers arrive, we start with the most obvious question: Why the civil services? “I always knew I wanted to be an IAS officer,” Kaur says. With a family full of civil servants, it might seem preordained, but she insists she had to work hard. “I got IPS (Indian Police Service) in my first attempt, then appeared again and got IAS,” she recalls. If not the bureaucracy, she tells us she would have chosen to be a lecturer.

 

We move on to her current role at CCI, a five-year tenure of which she has three years left. Kaur, who is in her early 60s, tells us candidly that she applied for the job. “So I was happy when I got it,” she says. “I was asked in the interview whether dominance is bad. I said no, not if it isn’t abused.” Her answer, clearly, struck the right note.

 

Starters arrive — watermelon, fennel and arugula salad with honey-lime dressing, and Greek-style spinach and mushroom tarts. As we dig in, we ask what kind of leader she is: A tough taskmaster or the friendly sort? “I’m strict when it comes to delivering at work,” she says without hesitation. “I like every meeting to have some outcome. I ask officials to set a deadline by when they can deliver on a task. In the government, that may be seen as being a tough taskmaster.’’

 

Before we have finished the starters, the mains arrive — tropical vegetable stew with lime rice pilaf, baked cheddar, artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, and carrot. Kaur looks happily at the vibrant spread, and we serve ourselves. The stew and pilaf — “pulao,” as we know it — don’t disappoint.

 

Talk returns to her work. Does she enjoy being a regulator? “CCI is not just a legal body; it has a detailed interface with economics. It is an economic regulator,” she says, explaining why she likes being there. With a master’s in economics and a dissertation on post-Green Revolution agricultural productivity in Punjab, her interest is longstanding.

 

Much of her career — whether in the erstwhile Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (now the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, or DPIIT) or as managing director of Punjab State Development Corporation — has revolved around economic issues.

 

So, CCI isn’t unfamiliar terrain, she impresses upon us. That may be the case, but technology regulation is a fast-evolving space. Big Tech cases — Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and so on — call for staying abreast of the latest in technology. 

 

Kaur says this is a highly specialised area, and she finds herself reading all the time — mostly non-fiction. The job came with immediate challenges: “Just a month before I joined, the new Competition Act had been passed. Plus, the chairperson’s post was vacant for some time, so there was a backlog. Those were my twin challenges.”

 

We try the cheddar-asparagus-broccoli mix as she outlines one of her priorities. “We will be the first government regulator to study artificial intelligence,’’ she says enthusiastically. But she is mindful of its risks, one of them being that AI can be abused.

 

Keeping that in check appears to be on top of her mind.

 

She speaks of algorithms, data usage, and intent. “One of the challenges is that machines are learning on their own,” she says. Still, she sees AI’s benefits — in healthcare, logistics, education, and banking. Personally, though, she adds, she’s not much into tech. “I’m careful.”

 

Geopolitics enters the conversation next. With multiple trade negotiations ongoing, we ask about CCI’s role in free trade agreements (FTAs). “There is a competition chapter, which we negotiate,” she says. “We have people who do that. Our international agreements go through MoUs.’’ We are curious to know more about the US trade deal, but Kaur offers no specifics.

 

It is time for dessert. We order a Mediterranean-style java plum sorbet and warm apple crumble with rose-petal ice cream. By now, the crowd at the restaurant has begun to thin. As the sun glints off the IHC pool, our conversation turns to the personal.

 

Has she faced bias as a woman regulator? “I have not experienced it,” she says. “In administrative services, word spreads. As people get to know you, the bias doesn’t come up much.”

 

Kaur, who has roots in Punjab but is very much a Delhiite, remembers her first posting as a sub-divisional magistrate in Rajpura, Punjab, in 1990, during the Mandal agitation. A person had died during the protests, and a flag march by the army had to be carried out. She led, along with the army. “I was asked if someone else should be sent for the flag march. I can understand why, since I had just joined the service.’’ Decades later, she does not see any bias towards her as a woman leader.

 

The dessert is delightful, and we linger over small talk. What’s on her bucket list? She shrugs. Not much. But then recalls one dream: To see the Northern Lights in Norway. Her leisure time is simple — a walk in Lodi Gardens or an episode of a favourite OTT series (never binge-watched). Work usually follows her home, though Sundays are sacred: for washing her hair, eating puri and aloo sabzi, and “feeling like a queen,” she says with a laugh.

 

On that note, we wrap up a delicious, insightful lunch. The regulator returns to her files. We, to our notebooks — richer for the conversation.