The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is confident of having the proposed National Competition Policy in place by the end of 2012.
The Ministry is in the process giving the final touches to the draft policy that will have the larger objective of combating inflation and bolstering GDP by creating a platform that will ensure better prices to the consumers and producers, apart from monitoring the demand-supply position of commodities and products.
Earlier, the policy was slated to be in place by January 2012, but the Ministry is keen on getting the feedback from all State Governments before placing it before the Cabinet.
The Union Minister for Corporate Affairs, Mr Veerappa Moily, said the draft policy would be placed before the Cabinet by March 2012 and will be in place by the year-end. “A draft report has been prepared and we are sending it to all the State Governments for their response,” he told media persons on the sidelines of the ‘11th ICSI National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2011.'
He said the Ministry was simultaneously working on the proposed National Corporate Governance Policy. Both policies will complement enforcement of the provisions of the Companies Bill, he said.
The Minister pointed out that after the US implemented a similar competition law, prices of petroleum products had come down by almost 50 per cent.
“Today, for example, onion supplies in India are being dictated by a small group of merchants. The Competition Policy can prevent this kind of a situation and create a wider platform with a transparent supply chain structure that will help bring down prices,” he said. On the Companies Bill 2011, Mr Moily said it was being referred for a second time to the Standing Committee, after the Opposition stalled discussion in the Parliament earlier this week.
“We expect the Standing Committee to revert by end of January 2012 and take it up in the Parliament during the Budget session,” he said.
On measures to check corporate fraud, the Minister said the Companies Bill 2011 has a provision that will arm the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) legislative authority, which will being down corporate frauds.
Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh Governor, Mr E.S.L. Narasimhan, and the Minister presented the Life Time Achievement Award to Mr Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, and Excellence in Corporate Governance Awards 2011 to GAIL and HUL.