Large approvals for mergers and acquisitions under the supervision of the House Panel

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by Congress MP KC Venugopal, is likely to review the actions of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) amid allegations of leniency on the part of the regulator in clearing transactions of Gautam Adani’s conglomerate.

This comes in the wake of Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s recent high-profile criticism in which he accused the CCI of systematically favoring Adani’s interests by greenlighting takeovers that allegedly enabled the group to establish monopolies in several industries, including ports, airports and energy.

“CCI is legally bound to approve mergers and acquisitions above a certain threshold. However, all of the acquisitions made by the Adani Group have been approved even as the company builds monopolies in sectors such as ports, airports, energy and cement – industries with a high risk of market failures and anti-competitive practices – often through threats and intimidation that have the backing of future powers ” – Jairam Ramesh recently posted on X.

“In recent years, the CCI has not hesitated to impose penalties on domestic and global companies for alleged abuse of dominant position. However, the Union government has allowed a five-fold hike in user development charges (UDF) paid by passengers at Lucknow and Mangalore airports,” added Jairam Ramesh.

The expected performance review could also take into account the fact that the CCI has failed to recover significant fines from violators. The Commission has imposed penalties over the years, but there is still little real improvement, which raises questions about its effectiveness in delivering tangible results in terms of regulatory obligations.

Pressure on the CCI has increased since Hindenburg Research published its damning report accusing the Adani Group of regulatory favoritism, further fueling the debate over the CCI’s role in clearing the conglomerate’s acquisitions. The timing of the PAC audit also ties into the upcoming political discourse on India’s economic future, particularly on the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few large business conglomerates.

Sources said that following the public allegations against the Congress, PAC had asked the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to collect information on the merger and acquisition deals.