Bid-Rigging In Public Procurement: An Indian Perspective

The Competition Commission of India ("CCI") in recent years, has become a vigorous regulator. Frequent, suo moto investigations, exemplary penalties to create a deterrent effect, and market studies¹ to better understand evolving markets are some of the actions taken by the CCI in the past few years. This zeal has equally translated into increased detection of anti-competitive practices of some of the more classic and obvious spheres of economic activity such as public procurement. One of the best examples of this is CCI's success with identifying and penalising anti-competitive conduct in the public procurement sector. The expeditiousness in dealing with such conduct, has been a catalyst for the growing maturity of antitrust jurisprudence in India.