Petroleum regulator to boost competition

A regulatory body for the petroleum sector, on the lines of the ones in power and telecom segments, will help create competition and stabilise prices, Union minister for law and justice H R Bharadwaj said.

With private companies entering fuel retailing business and more likely to join, a regulatory mechanism is required to protect consumer interest, control prices and create competition, he said.

In fact, a regulatory mechanism for all the vital sectors of the economy is the "need of the hour" when they are fully opened up, Bharadwaj told reporters on the sidelines of an 'International Seminar on Information Technology, Law and Governance held in Bangalore'.

"I conceive a regulatory legal system in place in india in all spheres," he said, asking lawyers to be ready to face such a system.

He said a competition commission would also be established soon.

To a query, he said there was no proposal before the government to allow foreign law firms to operate in india. Lawyers from India and abroad are attending the seminar, organised by the Indian chapter of Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA), an international association of lawyers based in Paris.