Markets must work for many, not just for few: Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman, who was speaking at the Competition Commission of India (CCI)’s 16th annual day celebrations, said digital commerce poses new challenges
Markets must work for many and not just for a few, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday, adding that a sudden spike in the electronic way of doing business and digital commerce globally posed new challenges for competition watchdogs to protect the free market spirit.
She called democratising the market principle the key to safeguarding the spirit of liberalisation, referring to India’s policy shift in the 1990s. “The enactment of the Competition Act in 2002 was a landmark reform in India’s journey from a centrally planned regime… to a market-driven one, and making the Competition Commission a key institution in safeguarding the spirit of liberalisation while checking its excesses,” she said at the Competition Commission of India (CCI)’s 16th annual day celebrations.
She noted the Competition Act mandates the CCI to promote and sustain competition in markets, protect the interests of consumers, ensure freedom of trade, and, most critically, prevent practices having an adverse effect on competition. Sitharaman added that “competition drives efficiency, nurtures innovation and also benefits consumers”.
“Free and fair market actually ensures that no single player can corner resources, suppress choice, or distort price discovery. This benefits our consumers,” she said. “Competition ensures that the voice of consumers, that is, the common people, matters and, therefore, businesses are forced to listen.”
Sitharaman said prices do not fall due to charity but because someone else is willing to offer the same product for less. “Quality improves not due to [a] sense of ethics but because mediocrity is punished by market forces...therefore in a competitive market the consumer becomes powerful not by assertion but by default.”
She said CCI’s interventions play a significant role in facilitating the environment where enterprises, big or small, can compete on merit, consumers are empowered with choices, and innovation and efficiency are rewarded. “For India, a nation of 1.4 billion people, ensuring a free and fair market is not merely an economic need. It is a democratic one. Economies that embrace competition are, by nature, more dynamic, and therefore CCI plays an important role in this backdrop to keep the competition alive in the markets.”
Sitharaman stressed the CCI’s ability to strike a balance between the regulatory vigilance and a pro-growth mindset will be integral to building a “resilient, equitable and innovation-driven” economic framework in India as it aspires to become ‘Viksit Bharat’ or developed by 2047.
She underscored challenges in ensuring fair competition in the fast-evolving digital era. “In addition to the traditional challenges, recent years have seen the emergence of new challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies raise novel questions about market power, transparency, data access, algorithmic biases, and the scope of competitive harm.”
She said free and fair digital markets are challenged by the emergence of gatekeeper platforms, asymmetries in data access, and cross-border implications of digital business models. Sitharaman added that the rise of cross-border digital monopolies demands global cooperation and agile regulation.
Sitharaman said India’s ongoing structural reforms—asset monetisation, disinvestment, and digital public infrastructure—are all geared towards unlocking market potential and deepening competition.
“In this year’s Union Budget, I mentioned the importance of a light-touch regulatory framework based on principles and trust to unleash productivity and employment. In the same vein, regulators must be guided by the principle of ‘minimum necessary, maximum feasible’...to balance regulatory vigilance with a pro-growth mindset,” she said. “I had also announced that the requirements and procedures for speedy approval of company mergers will be rationalised, and the scope for fast-track mergers will also be widened, and the process made simpler.”
Sitharaman said that as India integrates further with global value chains and digital ecosystems, maintaining open and contestable markets will be crucial to our competitiveness. She added the CCI, through its unique mandate and cross-sectoral role, will be a key enabler in this journey, whether it is facilitating market access for micro, small and medium enterprises, addressing barriers that impede fair competition, promoting digital inclusion, or ensuring that consumers benefit from better choices, lower prices, and improved quality.
