Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Indian antitrust watchdog raids Glencore business, others

INDIA'S antitrust watchdog raided units of global commodities trader Glencore and two other firms in Mumbai on Saturday (16) in an inquiry into alleged collusion on the price of pulses, four sources with knowledge of the raids said.

More than 25 antitrust officials carried out the raids at the offices of local units of Glencore and Africa's Export Trading Group, and India's Edelweiss group which previously had a commodities business, two government sources said.


The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been investigating allegations that the companies formed a cartel to discuss the pricing of pulses while importing and selling them in the Indian market at higher prices in 2015 and 2016, when India faced an acute shortage, the sources said.

A spokesman for Switzerland-based Glencore, Charles Watenphul, declined to comment, while India's Edelweiss, which sold its commodities trading business in November 2016, and the Export Trading Group did not respond to requests for comment.

Two years of drought pushed up prices of pulses such as chickpeas and black grams, which are a staple of Indian cuisine, in 2015 and forced New Delhi to offer duty-free imports, encouraging foreign and Indian traders who imported pulses to sell locally.

"The collusion by these companies led to higher prices of pulses," one of the government sources said, adding that the CCI's inquiry started three months ago.

The investigation will also assess whether the companies have continued their alleged collusion even after the prices of pulses stabilized in recent years, the source said.

The raids on five company offices in India's financial capital began on Friday (15) and were concluded on Saturday (16).

Antitrust officials collected evidence, including documents and e-mails, and questioned company officials during the raids, a second government source said.

Another source, an industry executive, said that CCI's search involved going through company records at Glencore's office in Mumbai, confirming it was part of the watchdog's probe into accusations of fixing import prices.

The drought during 2015 wilted crops and exacerbated shortages of food such as protein-rich pulses and India, which consumes about 22 million tonnes of pulses annually, faced a shortfall of 7-8 million tonnes in 2015-16.

The CCI's raids on commodities traders mark only its fourth such search operation in its near 10-year history. They can only be conducted with approval from a judge.

In October, the CCI raided the offices of global brewers such as Carlsberg and Anheuser Busch InBev and found e-mails which allegedly showed violations of Indian anti-trust laws.

(Reuters)

More For You

india-ireland

Jaishankar met Harris over a working breakfast at the Department of Foreign Affairs, where they finalised an 'Action Plan' aimed at strengthening bilateral relations. (Photo: X/@DrSJaishankar)

India, Ireland to strengthen trade ties with new Joint Economic Commission

INDIA and Ireland have agreed to establish a Joint Economic Commission (JEC) to boost trade, investment, and technology collaboration, external affairs minister S Jaishankar announced after a meeting with Irish foreign minister Simon Harris in Dublin on Friday.

Jaishankar met Harris over a working breakfast at the Department of Foreign Affairs, where they finalised an "Action Plan" aimed at strengthening bilateral relations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rachel-Reeves-Getty

Reeves is expected to announce welfare spending cuts worth billions of pounds in the Labour government's Spring Statement on March 26. (Photo: Getty Images)

Welfare system too costly, needs reform: Rachel Reeves

CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves said on Friday that the UK’s welfare system is "costing too much" and must be reformed as the government faces financial pressures from high inflation and borrowing.

Reeves is expected to announce welfare spending cuts worth billions of pounds in the Labour government's Spring Statement on March 26. The statement will be a follow-up to her first budget last October, according to reports this week.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lloyds-UK-Reuters

People walk past a branch of Lloyds bank in London on January 17, 2025. (Photo: Reuters)

Lloyds to hire 4,000 tech workers in India, cut UK jobs: Report

LLOYDS Banking Group is hiring hundreds of IT engineers in India while planning to cut similar jobs in the UK, according to a report.

The bank aims to have 4,000 permanent technology and data employees in India by the end of the year, nearly half of its global engineering workforce, reported the Financial Times.

Keep ReadingShow less
India’s GDP ticks up 6.2 per cent
on increased spending last quarter

Decreased urban consumption and reduced government spending have dampened economic activity over the last few quarters

India’s GDP ticks up 6.2 per cent on increased spending last quarter

INDIA’S economy expanded a little more than six per cent in the December quarter, official data showed last Friday (28), marking an uptick from the previous quarter as the country prepares for the fallout of US president Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies.

The figures – an increase from the July-September period – will likely be welcomed by policymakers in the world’s fifth-largest economy, which has been grappling with unexpectedly sluggish growth in the face of potential US tariffs.

Keep ReadingShow less
India, EU set December deadline for free trade deal

Ursula von der Leyen with Narendra Modi

India, EU set December deadline for free trade deal

INDIA and the European Union agreed last Friday (28) to finalise a free trade deal by the end of the year, marking their first commitment to a deadline after years of talks. This move comes as both sides seek to soften the impact of tariff increases from the United States.

The announcement was made by European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on a two-day visit to India, and India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, at a joint press conference.

Keep ReadingShow less