Competition Law in India: Policy, Issues, and Developments

The Competition Act, 2002, enacted to fulfill India's obligations under the World Trade Organization agreements, is India's first comprehensive law dealing with unfair competition and anti-trust issues. This book provides a holistic picture of the developments that led to the enactment of the Act, the observations of the Committee that recommended the competition policy and the means of enforcing the law. After discussing the basic principles of competition law, it presents a detailed study of the provisions of the statute relating to anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance, and combinations, or acquisitions and mergers. The chapter on Enforcement shows how competition issues dealt with in other countries. The author argues that although anti-trust or anti-monopoly issues are the same the world over, India has some special features as it has been a 'mixed economy' since independence and its public sector has only recently been opened up to participation by private enterprise. This edition includes an addendum that fully explains the provisions of the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007 and changes brought about by them in the law. It also discusses the controversy regarding the appointment of the members of the Competition Commission that ultimately delayed the progress of the law.