Econ Lab : Dr. Ajit Ranade, The Regulation of Anti Competitive Behavior in India

Free and fair competitions are the fundamentals of modern market economies. However, rent-seeking behaviours of some players prevent free entry and exit of firms and calls for intervention by governments via competition laws. In his Econ Lab, Dr Ajit Ranade, Group Executive President and Chief Economist of the Aditya Birla Group, discussed in detail the concept of competition law using some recent cases. He touched upon the Meru vs. Ola, Uber case and Airtel’s predatory pricing case against Jio to highlight how competition laws support vigorous competition. He spoke about Germany’s success in identifying a cement cartel that had been operating discreetly since the 1990s. He encouraged students to apply microeconomic concepts of Nash equilibrium and Prisoner’s dilemma to understand the incentives to cheat within a cartel. He also discussed at length the role of competition laws in containing formation of monopolies by mergers and acquisitions. Throughout the session, Dr Ranade challenged the students by asking thought-provoking questions such as ‘If the government gives special preference to Air India for its employee travel, is that anti-competitive?’ His Econ Lab was immensely enjoyed by the students and the academy looks forward to hosting him again.