'Competition Commission must look at PSUs'

Competition watchdog CCI needs to scrutinise the practices of the state-owned companies as they are not above the law of competition, the Chairman of the 13th Finance Commission, Vijay Kelkar said on Friday.

"Competition Commission of India (CCI) can focus on public sector undertakings...No one is above the law of competition," he said while speaking at a two-day seminar on 'State of Competition in the Indian Economy' organised by the CCI.

Besides practices of the state-owned companies, Kelkar said, CCI could also look into anti-dumping laws as they pose "a potential threat" to the competition regime in the country. "At some point of time, CCI can look into the anti-dumping laws," he suggested.

Countries impose anti-dumping duties on cheap imports from other nations to safeguard the interest of the domestic industry, provided it is established that price of import is below the production cost.

The Commission, which has recently become fully functional with appointment of chairman Dhanendra Kumar and other members, will soon be taking up cases pertaining to abuse of dominance, cartels etc to ensure free and fair competition in the country.