By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s antitrust watchdog has conducted nationwide raids at six paper mills in an investigation of alleged price collusion in supplying paper to a government school education body, two people with direct knowledge said on Wednesday.
India’s paper industry accounts for about 5% of the world’s production, and has an estimated annual turnover of $11 billion, according to the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been conducting surprise raids starting Tuesday in the states of Maharashtra in the west and Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi in the north, said the sources, who declined to be named as the matter is confidential.
The sources said the offices of Satia Industries, Silverton Pulp and Chadha Papers were among those raided. One of the sources said Shreyans Industries’ office was also being searched.
The sources did not name any of the other companies.
Satia Industries chief financial officer Rachit Nagpal confirmed the CCI raids to Reuters during a telephone call, adding the company had cooperated with investigators.
An official at Silverton Pulp declined to comment. Chadha Papers and Shreyans Industries did not immediately respond to Reuters queries.
The CCI does not make public any details of its cases of alleged cartelisation or raids, and keeps the entire process confidential. The watchdog did not respond to Reuters queries.
The case of alleged collusion was triggered last year following a complaint by the government’s National Council of Educational Research and Training, which procures paper from mills to make textbooks and other teaching material for schools.
The Council did not respond to a request for comment.
The raids come after another high-profile case triggered a similar operation in March and targeted global advertising agencies like GroupM, Interpublic, Publicis and Dentsu for alleged collusion over prices. The investigation is ongoing, and will take several months.
The case was started after Dentsu itself reported the alleged collusion to the CCI, and later told Reuters it had implemented stricter audits and controls. The other companies have not commented on the allegations.
Officers typically seize documents and mobile phone data and interrogate officials during such raids.
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra)
