The new laws should cover all economic activites Department of company affairs secretary TS Krishnamurthy said while addressing a seminar here on "Framing the Indian competition policy". "The terms of reference of the committee is very clear. It is wide enough for the committee to give a comprehensive law."

Clearing perception that the committee's brief was to recommend changes in the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, Krishnamurthy said the government has a very open mind on the new competition laws. He added that the new laws could apply to government and government bodies. "We want a law that can be effectively enforced."

He added that the government wanted to bring in new legislation that would enable private sector to become healthier. "We want to make profit a cleaner word." Krishnamurthy said the government expected the committee on competition law to suggest a pragmatic and easily implementable law. The government would like to have a proper legal authority to provide conducive conditions to trade and industry without harming the interest of the consumers. Chairman of the committee on competition laws SVS Raghavan on Wednesday stated that his committee would not recommended transplantation of any one model of competition law in India.

Putting to rest speculations that the government would adopt the United Kingdom model, Raghavan said the committee would consider various laws governing competition in different countries before finalising the recommendations.

The minister for law, justice and company affairs Ram Jethmalani is understood to be in favour of implementing the rewritten UK model. He had recently gone over to London to study the new competition laws which came into force early this year.

Meanwhile, the committee has sought time till March 2000 to submit its recommendations. The committee, set up in October, was initially required to finalise its recommendations in three months. Raghavan added that his committee would recommend simple and comprehensive laws which would not be open for too much of interpretation. One of the major objectives of the proposed legislation would be to curb operations of cartels in the country.

He felt that the enforcing body should be an administrative authority and not a legal entity. Raghavan further added that the committee would also consider whether functions performed by various institutions such as Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) besides Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRPTC) should be brought under one body.

The chairman further stated that committee would also outline changes required to be brought about in other laws that affect the working of the companies in the preamble to the report.

Experts on competition law who participated in the seminar felt that the country would draw some influence from the models in force in United States and European Union. They felt government should not allow creation of monopolies and cartels.