An antitrust law isn’t enough: India’s economy is in acute need of a national competition policy

India’s economy is at an inflection point. On one hand, we aspire to become a $5 trillion economy soon and project a bold vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. On the other, our economic reality tells a humbling story—just as we did not achieve the $5 trillion mark in 2025, as originally envisaged, the vision of ‘developed’ status by 2047 will not be realized if our GDP grows at its current rate.

India is shying away from a key reform that can address distortions holding the economy back: a national competition policy (NCP). If implemented, it would be our second wave of big-bang economic reforms after 1991.While the discourse around competition in India has become synonymous with antitrust enforcement and merger approvals, competition policy is a much broader, economy-wide discipline. Put simply, it is about shaping the rules of the game—not after the horses have bolted from their stables, but before distortions take hold.

Many policymakers argue that India already has a strong Competition Act and an active Competition Commission of India (CCI), so why add another layer? This reflects a basic misunderstanding. When the CCI was established in the 2000s, some people thought it was another market entry testing mechanism; such was the public ignorance.It took time for them to understand that competition law is reactive. It intervenes after a company (private or public sector) indulges in anti-competitive behaviour—by abusing its market dominance, forming a cartel with others or trying to acquire such clout through a merger.