India needs to take lead in competition law enforcement: Jayant Sinha

NEW DELHI: India should grab the opportunity to become a leader in competition law enforcement among the younger jurisdictions, Union Minister Jayant Sinha said today.

Noting that the present government is pursuing a pro-poor economic policy, he said in this context the importance of well-functioning markets cannot be over-emphasised.

He was delivering the inaugural address at the First National Conference on Economics of Competition Law here, organised by fair trade regulator CCI.

Sinha, who is the Minister of State for Finance, urged the CCI to emulate global best practices for the enforcement of competition law, according to an official release.

CCI Chairman Devender Kumar Sikri said implementation of competition law needs to be judicious. Besides, there has to be a meaningful dialogue between law and economics so that the legal principles and economic perspectives are harmonised towards efficient, precise and prudent decision-making, he added.

Speaking at the event, CCI Member Augustine Peter said focus of present day competition assessment is on the use of more economics.

The CCI became functional in May 2009 and is relatively young as compared to the competition jurisdiction in some of the developed economies.