Time ripe to reform India’s competition laws: Veerappa Moily

The government is looking at a comprehensive reform of competition laws in the country, both at the central and states level, in order to foster a culture of competition and to promote innovation, minister for corporate affairs Veerappa Moily said today.

''The time has come for all the stakeholders in the growth of Indian economy to come forward and launch a national movement to build a culture of competition so as to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and inclusive growth and to be part in ushering second generation of reforms,'' Moily said.

He was speaking at a conference on building `Friends of Competition' in India, organised by CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC) and the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) of the ministry of corporate affairs, in New Delhi yesterday.

Consumer Unity & Trust Society, (CUTS) started off in Rajasthan in 1983, as a rural development communication initiative, has been instrumental in providing a forum for the oppressed classes to get justice.

''The stage is set for competition policy reforms,'' Moily said, adding that ''as per a recent study, Indian GDP in 2050 will be $85 trillion, ahead of China and the US and in order to achieve this, the second-generation economic reforms at centre, state and sub-state levels are now required.

''We now need a culture of high productivity, efficiency, innovation or competition. Competition policy and law are instruments, which positively affect the bottom of pyramid and therefore will be defining moment within the policy reform agenda,'' he said.