Vide order dated 04 February 2025, the CCI dismissed allegations of bid rigging against Gokul Agro Resources Ltd. and Gokul Agri International Ltd in a tender floated by the Army Purchase Organisation (APO) for refined mustard oil. The APO raised concerns that the two were sister companies under the same management, potentially restricting competition by colluding during the bidding process on the Government e-Marketplace portal.
The CCI found that 15 entities participated in the tendering process, with 11 qualifying for the financial bidding stage. The two Gokul companies secured the lowest bids in 4 out of 15, while the remaining were won by other bidders. The Commission also observed that the price variation between the bids submitted by the two companies ranged from 0.42% to 10.46%, indicating independent pricing strategies rather than collusion. These factors contradicted the assertion that the OPs had coordinated their bids to manipulate the tender outcome. The APO had also relied on a Gujarat High Court order from 2015, which identified the two companies as part of the Gokul Group under a common management structure. However, the CCI found that this information was outdated, as the companies had undergone corporate restructuring since then. Further, the CCI noted that both companies were independently managed publicly listed companies with no common directors. The CCI reiterated that mere common ownership or historical business linkages between entities does not, in itself, indicate collusion.
Consequently, the CCI ordered closure of the matter under Section 26(2) of the Act.
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