Dhanendra Kumar, the newly-appointed chairman of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), is also known as an “infrastructure man” for his role in developing key industrial townships in Haryana and for serving in central ministries like highways, power and telecom.
62-year-old Kumar also has rich international experience, first as the resident director of India Investment Centre, London, from 1983 to 1986, where he was actively associated with promoting NRI investment and joint ventures in India. Thereafter, nearly after two decades, Kumar joined the World Bank as executive director in charge of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
His wide exposure to different sectors along with his international experience will help him understand the interplay between market power as well as the abuse of such power.
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1968 batch graduated in Physics (Electronics) from University of Allahabad with good academic record and worked briefly as an assistant professor during 1965-68 before joining the IAS. He has held several important positions in the Centre and state government of Haryana.
| CCI's COMPETITIVE JOURNEY |
| 1999: Government constitutes a committee to examine the MRTP Act, 1969, to shift focus from curbing monopolies to promoting competition. |
| 2002-03: Based on the committee’s report, the Competition Act, 2002, is enacted and notified in January, 2003. |
| October 2003: Government appoints Commerce Secretary Dipak Chatterjee as chairperson and Vinod K. Dhall as member of the Competition Commission of India. Chatterjee's appointment is revoked subsequent to the filing of a petition in the Supreme Court. Vinod Dhall is the only member as well as the acting chairperson of the CCI. |
| September 2007: The Competition Act, 2002, is amended |
| June 2008" Acting Chairman Vinod Dhall resigns seeking an "early exit", four months before the completion of his term. |
In his capacity as the chairman of the Haryana State Industries Development Corporation, he played an important role in visualising the Manesar Industrial Township and the Udyog Export Promotion Park in Gurgaon.
He worked as chairman and managing director, Rural Electrification Corporation, under the Ministry of Power from May 2002 to October 2002. He was also additional secretary, department of telecommunication and secretary, Telecom Commission, from September 1998 to May 2002. As telecom secretary, he was one of the authors of the 1999 telecom policy.