The Cement Cartel: Inside India's Price Fixing Scandal
This article delves into a decade-long price collusion scandal among major Indian cement companies, targeting ONGC tenders. It highlights the antitrust investigation findings by CCI, detailing how these firms engaged in bid rigging and plotted against foreign competition, with repercussions for top executives.
India's largest oil explorer, ONGC, suspected foul play when bids for a 2018 cement tender all quoted exactly 7,000 rupees per tonne. The identical pricing raised suspicions of collusion among Dalmia Cement, Shree Digvijay, and India Cements, prompting ONGC to file an antitrust case.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) conducted a five-year investigation, revealing a 12-year price-fixing conspiracy among these firms to manipulate ONGC contracts. The detailed report, reviewed by Reuters, highlights evidence of meetings, emails, and other communications substantiating the cartel's activities.
Despite previous reports on the collusion, Reuters provided an in-depth look at the tactics employed by these companies. The CCI's scrutiny comes amidst broader government efforts to curb anti-competitive practices in key economic sectors, including domestic players previously overshadowed by cases involving foreign giants.
Google News