Competition concern over proposed electrical and automation acquisition prompts public consultation and review under competition law.
The Commission finds a prima facie appreciable adverse effect on competition from the proposed acquisition of L&T's electrical and automation business by Schneider and MacRitchie (excluding Marine and Servowatch) and has directed publication of combination details. It invites written comments, objections or suggestions from persons likely to be affected, provides submission channels, and states it will not consider unsubstantiated objections.

Competition Law Review invites stakeholder comments to update Act and align with international best practices.
A Competition Law Review Committee will assess the Competition Act, related rules and regulations to align them with international best practices, address anti trust, merger control and cross border competition issues, and examine overlapping regulatory regimes. Stakeholders are invited to submit written comments by email on the updated Act available online; all submissions received by the deadline will be analysed by the Committee to inform potential legislative or regulatory changes.

Corporate governance reforms tighten disclosure, beneficial owner checks, dematerialisation and enforcement powers for stronger compliance.
Proposed amendments strengthen corporate governance, disclosure and enforcement by requiring prior government approval for changes by certain registered companies; mandating dematerialisation for specified unlisted securities; imposing a duty on companies to identify and secure compliance from significant beneficial owners; refining NFRA's divisional structure; creating an Unspent CSR Account with timed spend obligations; tightening independent director independence assessments and resignation filings; expanding disgorgement and personal liability powers for fraud; empowering Tribunal fitness inquiries and providing for vesting and administration of dissolved company property by a Board of Administrators.

Fair and transparent public procurement protects state revenues by promoting competition and preventing bid rigging, enhancing efficiency.
Fair and transparent public procurement preserves State revenues and ensures optimal deployment by securing competitive prices and quality; infusing competition and redesigning tender and PPP models can yield substantial cost savings. Detection and deterrence of collusion are essential: the Competition Commission of India is developing diagnostic and digital cartel detection tools to identify bid rigging and help design tenders that promote fair competition. E procurement and government e marketplaces expand participation and reduce processing costs, supporting broader procurement reform across stakeholders.

Competition in public procurement promoted to curb bid rigging and cartels and encourage leniency measures.
Infusing competition in public procurement is presented as a priority; the Competition Commission of India organised a national conference in Delhi to scale up Competition Advocacy, engage policymakers and stakeholders across governments, public sector enterprises and industry, and to address detection and deterrence of anti competitive conduct in procurement, with particular focus on bid rigging, cartels and promotion of leniency as an enforcement tool.

Access to credit for MSMEs expanded through a fast-track loan portal and mandatory market procurement reforms increasing institutional support.
A coordinated policy package strengthens MSME support by enhancing credit access through a fast-track online loan portal and interest subventions, mandating large-company participation in an electronic receivables platform, expanding public procurement quotas with reservations for women entrepreneurs, requiring central public undertakings to use the government e-marketplace, establishing technology hubs and tool-room spokes, and simplifying compliance via single environmental consent, annualized statutory returns, randomized inspections and an ordinance for administrative correction of minor company law violations.

Companies Amendment Ordinance broadens in house adjudication, lowers penalties for small companies, and tightens compliance filing.
The Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 shifts sixteen corporate offences from special courts to an expanded in house adjudication regime (increasing covered sections from 18 to 34), mandates online publication of orders, requires concomitant orders to make good defaults when levying penalties, halves penalties for small and one person companies, introduces higher penalties for repeated defaults, reintroduces a declaration of commencement of business, empowers physical verification of registered offices and removal for non operation, raises Regional Director pecuniary jurisdiction to Rs. 25 lakh, and vests the Central Government with approval powers over financial year alteration and conversion of public to private companies.

MSME outreach programme expands access to credit and markets through a concentrated district outreach campaign with ministerial visits.
Launch of the MSME Support and Outreach Programme to strengthen MSMEs by improving access to credit, expanding market access, and providing hand holding and facilitation support. The Programme is a time bound outreach campaign covering one hundred districts over one hundred days, with central ministers visiting districts to brief entrepreneurs on government and financial institution facilities and encourage utilisation of these support measures.