National Conference on "State of Competition in the Indian Economy" to begin today

New Delhi, June 11 (ANI): A two-day National Conference on the 'State of Competition in the Indian Economy' will begin here today.

The conference is being organised by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). t is being organized in collaboration with the World Bank and the Department of International Development (DFID), UK.

The conference is aimed at bringing together national and international experts in the area of competition policy and law to reflect on the state of competition in Indian markets.

The conference will review some of the recently completed studies commissioned by the CCI.

The conference is also aimed at bringing together experts from India and abroad in the area of competition law and policy to share their views and experiences with Indian researchers and competition analysts so as to serve the objective of capacity building for the fledging Competition Commission and other stakeholders.

The conference will be inaugurated by Minister of State (Independent charge) Salman Khurshid and will have as Guest of Hounour Dr. Justice Shri. Arijit Pasayat, who has recently been appointed as the Chairperson of the Competition Appellate Tribunal.

Dhanendra Kumar, Chairman, CCI and all the four Members of the Commission will be actively involved in the conference.

The conference will have six technical sessions spread over two days covering the 'state of competition in the Indian economy, 'issues relating to application of competition law', 'legal issues of relevance to competition Act', and the 'techniques and application of competition assessment'.

The conference also covers six studies encompassing competition issues in seven sectors and also competition issues in concessions in the infrastructure.

The sector specific studies on competition issues that would be covered in the conference include: air transport sector - both airlines and airports; sea ports and railways; energy sector; steel; petroleum refining; and the pharmaceutical industry.

Competition issues in 'concession' agreements are covered by one of the studies which will be presented.

The conference is part of the competition advocacy mandate of the Commission. Since the inception 18 research studies were commissioned and of these 16 have been completed.

Two studies are in the process of being finalized.

The objective of these studies are three fold: to assist in capacity building for research on competition issues among Indian researchers; to enable the Commission to understand the state of competition in different sectors of the economy; and to use the results of the studies for competition advocacy with central and state governments and with industry.

The conference will be attended by policy makers from Central and State governments, regulators, lawyers, economists, the research community, among others. (ANI)