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The government on Wednesday approved Rs 1,718.56 crore as reimbursement for price support extended under MSP operations to the Cotton Corporation of India for the procurement undertaken in the 2023-24 cotton season. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As market prices of cotton fell below MSP during the season, the government agency had to undertake MSP operations to the extent of 32.84 lakh bales, benefiting about 7.25 lakh farmers and paying about Rs 11,712 crore directly into their bank accounts, officials said. The cabinet approved incurring expenditure towards reimbursement of price support extended under Minimum Support Price operations for cotton during Cotton Season 2023-24 (October 1, 2023, to 30 September, 2024), they added. "In a significant step towards strengthening farmer welfare and advancing the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the CCEA has approved Minimum Support Price (MSP) funding of Rs ...
Fair trade regulator CCI on Wednesday dismissed a complaint alleging abuse of market dominance by InterGlobe Aviation and Air India. The complainant alleged that the domestic carriers were maintaining unconscionable and illegal rates of cancellation charges and imposing arbitrary conditions and prices for the sale of services. According to the complainant, InterGlobe Aviation, which operates IndiGo, held more than 65 per cent share in the domestic aviation sector, while Air India accounted for around 27 per cent. Together, both these players control about 90 per cent of the market share, raising concerns of dominance and possible anti-competitive practices, as per the complaint. After examining the information, the Commission said the allegations did not establish any prima facie violation of competition law provisions. CCI noted that the allegation of abuse of dominance does not warrant further examination as OPs (InterGlobe Aviation and Air India) have in place a system for refu
The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday pleas of Meta and WhatsApp against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over their privacy policy. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi is likely to hear the matter. On February 3, the bench had made strong observations against Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp, saying they could not "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing" and alleged that they were creating a monopoly in the market and committing theft of private information of customers. Decrying WhatsApp's privacy policy, the bench referred to "silent customers" who were unorganised, digitally dependent and unaware of the implications of data-sharing policies, and asserted, "We will not allow the rights of any citizen of this country to be damaged." WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms Inc. The top court was hearing the appeals of the t
Competition Commission has imposed a fine of Rs 27.38 crore on Intel Corp for indulging in anti-competitive practices with respect to India-specific warranty policy for its boxed microprocessors. The penalty has been imposed on the company for abusing its dominant position in the market for Boxed Micro Processors (BMPs) for desktops in India. In a statement on Thursday, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said the India-specific warranty policy was discriminatory in comparison with Intel's warranty policies in China, Australia and rest of the world. The Commission also found the policy to have limited the choice of consumers and parallel importers, and thereby causing an appreciable adverse effect on Indian consumers. Considering the fact that the India-specific warranty policy was in place for eight years, the regulator imposed the penalty translating to 8 per cent of the average relevant turnover of Intel. "However, considering the mitigating factors including the ...
Fair trade regulator CCI on Tuesday cleared Tata Steel's proposal to acquire a 50.01 per cent equity stake in Odisha-based Thriveni Pellets. The development came after Tata Steel in December last year announced that it entered into a pact to acquire a majority stake in Thriveni Pellets Pvt Ltd for Rs 636 crore. "The proposed combination relates to Tata Steel Limited's proposed acquisition of 50.01 per cent equity share capital of Thriveni Pellets Private Limited (TPPL) from Thriveni Earthmovers Private Limited," the regulator said in a release. Tata Steel Limited is engaged in integrated steel manufacturing operations, ranging from mining to steelmaking to further processing. It is also engaged in the mining of iron ore and the production of iron ore pellets, sponge iron and crude steel. TPPL is engaged in the sale of iron ore pellets in the country. TPPL's wholly-owned subsidiary, Brahmani River Pellets Ltd, is also engaged in production and sale of iron ore pellets in India. In
Fair trade regulator CCI on Tuesday approved home-grown private equity firm ChrysCapital's proposal to acquire a stake in Nash Industries (I) Pvt Ltd. Mumbai-based ChrysCapital is acquiring stakes through its three affiliates, ChrysCapital Fund X, Two Infinity Partners and Blue Wave Investments Ltd. These entities invest in different sectors. "The proposed combination pertains to the acquisition by ChrysCapital Fund X, Two Infinity Partners and Blue Wave Investments Limited (collectively, the Acquirers), collectively, of certain equity share capital of Nash Industries (I) Private Limited (Target)," the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in a release. Nash Industries is engaged in the business of box build solutions and metal stamping. The acquirers are private equity investors, belonging to the ChrysCapital Group. "Commission approves acquisition by ChrysCapital Fund X, Two Infinity Partners and Blue wave Investments Limited, collectively, of certain equity share capital in