INDIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Vaibhav Choukse, Ela Bali, Aditi Khanna and Faiz Siddiqui, JSA
combination, even in part, until they have received CCI approval or until 150 calendar days have elapsed from filing, whichever is earlier. If the CCI does not issue a decision within this window, the combination is deemed approved. However, the clock can be paused for incomplete filings, or when the CCI requires addi - tional information. Separately, the CCI has 30 calendar days from receiving a complete notification to form a prima facie view, failing which, the combination is deemed approved. Parties that fail to notify a combination, or consum - mate, even partially, before receiving CCI approval (commonly referred to as “gun-jumping”), face signifi - cant financial exposure. The CCI can impose a penalty of up to 1% of the combined total assets, turnover of the parties, or the value of the combination, whichever is higher. Key Trends India’s merger control record remains remarkably per - missive. To date, approximately 97% of all notified combinations have raised no competition concerns and have been approved without any issue. Notably, the CCI has never prohibited a combination to date. This consistently high clearance rate reflects the CCI’s generally pragmatic and business-oriented approach to the combination review, with the regulator histori - cally reserving detailed scrutiny for a relatively small subset of combinations. During the period from 1 June 2025 to 1 June 2026 (the “Relevant Period”), the CCI reviewed 120 combi - nations, of which two received conditional approval. Of these, 111 were notified in Form I (short-form noti - fication), nine in Form II (long-form notification), and 19 were filed under the Green Channel Route (GCR). The average approval time (including clock-stops) was approximately 48 calendar days for Form I notifi - cations and 85 calendar days for Form II notifications. The GCR framework, introduced by the CCI in August 2019, provides deemed approval of combinations where the parties have no horizontal overlaps, vertical or complementary links in India. It remains a distinc - tive feature of India’s merger control regime, aimed at enhancing procedural efficiency and ease of doing business.
While such combinations are formally approved on the date of filing without an ex-ante review, they remain subject to post-clearance scrutiny to verify the accu - racy of disclosures and continued eligibility for the route. Recent enforcement trends suggest a stricter approach by the CCI towards GCR self-assessments. GCR Faces Growing Regulatory Caution Since its introduction in August 2019, the CCI has received 145 combinations under the GCR. However, the use of the mechanism has witnessed a noticeable decline in recent years, with only 19 GCR filings made during the Relevant Period. This represents a con - tinued decline. The decline appears closely linked to the CCI’s increasingly stringent scrutiny of GCR filings and post-facto verification of self-assessments made by the notifying parties. Since its introduction, the CCI has invalidated three GCR filings involving private equity funds and imposed penalties after concluding that the parties had failed to identify certain overlaps. These enforcement actions have made parties considerably more cautious in relying on the GCR mechanism. As a result, notifying parties are increasingly opting for the standard noti - fication route, even in borderline cases, to mitigate regulatory uncertainty and enforcement risk. DVT: Limited Volume, Emerging Reach One of the most closely watched reforms was the introduction of DVT. However, its practical impact appears relatively modest in its first year of operation. Out of the total 120 combinations, only 11 (approxi - mately 9%) were notified solely on the basis of the DVT. This suggests that, at least in its early phase, the DVT has not materially expanded the overall volume of combination filings. That said, the significance of the DVT may lie less in the number of filings and more in the nature of combinations it seeks to capture. Gun-Jumping: The CCI’s Zero-Tolerance Stance The CCI continued to maintain a strict enforcement stance against gun-jumping, reaffirming the suspen - sory nature of India’s merger control regime. During the Relevant Period, the CCI imposed penalties in four instances of gun-jumping, which are discussed below.
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