The Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, will inaugurate the National Conference on “Economics of Competition Law” tomorrow

The Minister of State for Commerce & Industry (Independent Charge), Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, will inaugurate the second edition of the National Conference on “Economics of Competition Law” organised by Competition Commission of India (CCI) on March 2-3, 2017 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Government of India will deliver the Keynote Address at the Inaugural Session of the Conference as the Guest of Honour.

The Conference will be attended by senior economists from across India, senior government officials, economic consulting firms, representatives from apex industry bodies, economists working for law firms and other stakeholders. Economists from across the globe will deliberate on various economic theories, tools and methods relevant for competition law enforcement. Internationally acclaimed competition economists Dr John M. Connor, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University, Dr Yannis S. Katsoulacos, Professor of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business and Dr R. Shyam Khemani, former Chief Economist, Canadian Competition Bureau will be present at the Conference as distinguished panellists.

In the second edition of this first-of-its-kind Conference, twelve research papers on a diverse range of issues relating to economics of competition law will be presented by senior economists from various research institutes and institutes of higher learning of the country. The papers will bring forth many policy-relevant subjects such as the Maximum Retail Price policy in India purportedly aiding collusion through focal point pricing, interplay between regulations in the Pharmaceutical sector and competition outcomes on innovation, supply and pricing of drugs, cartel-induced overcharge in the cement industry in India, to mention a few.