Speaking at the Conference, Zia Mody, Chairperson, CII National Committee on Regulatory Affairs & Senior Partner, AZB & Partners voiced industry perspective and concerns on merger control by way of Combinations Regulations.

Some of the issues she highlighted included need for continuation of the "de-minimis" exemption; revisiting the thresholds under Section 5 of the Competition Act; need for clarification on definition of control; need for exemption for global transaction that have little/no territorial nexus with India; potential misuse of publication of details of a notified transaction on the CCI website; and continuing possibility of pre-mature notifications due to non-clarity on trigger event. She asserted the importance of the role of CCI in the current scenario of economic growth leading to increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions.

Delivering the welcome remarks, Dr Ajit Ranade, Member CII Economic Growth & Investments Council; and Group Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group exclaimed that competition is not an end by itself, but leads to faster economic development. He highlighted the aim of the Competition Commission which is not just to prevent abuse of dominance and unfair trade practices, but also to promote healthy competition and fair play.

The extremely interactive and well-attended Conference included two technical sessions during the day capturing speakers' thoughts on ‘Challenges to Compliance' and ‘Industry Perspective on Merger Control.'
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