Asian Paints seeks to quash antitrust probe, says probe order mishandled

Asian Paints told a Mumbai court that the CCI's July 1 order wrongly alleged its CEO warned raw material suppliers against dealing with Birla, threatening reduced business with the company

India's biggest paints maker, Asian Paints, is seeking to quash an antitrust inquiry, arguing that officials damaged its reputation by publishing - and then deleting - allegations against its CEO from the investigation order, legal papers show.

Rapid infrastructure and real estate growth in India, one of the world's fastest-growing economies, has made the paints business a lucrative sector worth around $9.5 billion.

The Competition Commission of India is investigating Asian Paints, which has a 52 per cent market share, after officials found merit in a complaint filed by rival Birla Opus that Asian Paints had abused its dominant position by offering discounts and incentives to dealers.

 

In a court challenge, Asian Paints told Mumbai judges the CCI's July 1 order contained an allegation that its CEO warned raw material suppliers in a meeting that they would get less business from the company if they dealt with Birla.

Within 24 hours, the reference was deleted and a new modified order was issued by the CCI, Asian Paints said in the filing, adding that both orders were still online and such an unexplained change was against legal procedures.

"The concurrent existence of two different orders ... has undermined the integrity of the proceedings, creating confusion in the market," Asian Paints said in its July 14 high court filing, seen by Reuters.

"The contents of the first impugned order have also caused grave reputational damage to the petitioner and to its CEO."

The CCI did not respond to Reuters queries on Asian Paints' lawsuit or why the changes were made to its order.

Asian Paints, its CEO Amit Syngle and Birla Opus, the paints arm of billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla's Grasim Industries, also did not respond to queries.

Reuters is first to report the contents of Asian Paints' 250-page lawsuit, which is not public.

Birla has dented some of Asian Paints' dominance after it launched in February 2024 and grew rapidly to garner a near 7 per cent market share by March this year, Elara Capital data shows.

Asian Paints also presented a table to the judge citing other changes made in the revised order, including the deletion of a reference that its representatives were allegedly concerned about some dealers using Birla's specialist paint devices.

Making such changes indicates the CCI took its decision with a "pre-meditated mind", Asian Paints' filing said.

Ahead of the CCI's decision to investigate, Reuters on June 6 first reported Birla's confidential antitrust complaint against Asian Paints. Asian Paints submitted that story to the CCI and also inquired about the case, the filing shows.

Asian Paints' court challenge will be heard on August 6.