India’s antitrust watchdog on Wednesday, September 8, raided local offices of several vegetable seed companies including a unit of Germany’s BASF in a case related to alleged price collusion, two sources told Reuters.
Competition Commission of India (CCI) officials were raiding offices of BASF India and at least three other vegetable seed companies in an operation across the country that included the satellite city of Gurugram near New Delhi, IT hub Bengaluru, and the southern city of Hyderabad, the sources said.
A spokesperson for BASF India confirmed the raids at Nunhems office, based in Gurugram. “We are yet to confirm the exact reason of the raid. We are strictly committed to high standards of legal compliance and business ethics. We will support the officials in every way possible,” she said.
In recent years, the antitrust watchdog has raided several companies in case of alleged price fixing, including the likes of beer giant Carlsberg and commodities trader Glencore.
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