By IANS,
New Delhi : The cabinet Thursday cleared amendments to the Competition Act, bringing all sectors under the purview of the fair trade regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
Finance Minister P Chidambaram, announcing the decision, said all sectors would come under the watchdog to meet the changing business environment.
“The basic structure of the Competition Act remains, we are making some amendments,” Chidambaram said at a media briefing after the cabinet meeting here.
It, however, lays down some caveats, with regard to mergers in the banking sector, in the case of failing banks.
Major amendments approved by the cabinet relate to changing the definition of “turnover”, “Group”, reducing the overall time limit of finalisation of combinations from 210 days to 180 days and insertion of a new section enabling the government to lay down different thresholds for any class or classes of enterprises for the purpose of examining acquisitions, mergers and amalgamations by the commission.