MPW Debutantes: How Ravneet Kaur keeps India's antitrust regulator a step ahead as CCI chairperson

“My experience has shown that patience, consistency and integrity are the three critical things. One has to be patient sometimes with regard to the results, have continuous commitment and be willing to continuously learn and improvise, and maintain the integrity of the process,” says Ravneet Kaur, Chairperson of Competition Commission of India (CCI), when asked to give advice to women who are embarking on their professional journeys.

This conviction of thought and action has served Kaur well as she took on new roles and assignments, especially as the head of India’s antitrust regulator. A 1988 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service of the Punjab cadre, Kaur took over as the CCI’s Chairperson in May 2023. Since then, she has been going from strength to strength.

Not only did the CCI, under her leadership, clear a long list of pending mergers and acquisitions, it has also worked on several other new frontiers, including the proposed Digital Competition Bill, notifying rules and regulations for the Competition (Amendment) Act, and working on investigation reports into anti-competitive practices by several big tech majors. Another feather in her cap was the approval of the over Rs 70,000 crore merger of Reliance Industries Ltd and Disney’s Indian media assets. It is for these reasons that she debuts on BT’s The Most Powerful Women in Business list this year.

Ask Kaur how difficult it was to take on the crucial role of heading the CCI, and she replies with her trademark smile that it’s an interesting but challenging job. “Unlike other regulators, the CCI is sector agnostic. That makes it a very complex job and there are several aspects that we need to navigate,” she underlines.

She, however, credits her entire team for ensuring that the regulator is in sync and is often ahead of the economic changes.

“We always are willing to go the extra mile. Apart from our regular work, we also look at the developments in the market. We get information through international collaboration, strategic foresight, the developments happening around us and how they are likely to pan out,” Kaur says.

With another three-and-a-half years of her term to go, it is certain that Kaur will ensure that the CCI continues to stay on top of its game.  

@surabhi_prasad