On July 12, 2021, CCI approved the acquisition of 23.5% equity share capital of ONGC Tripura Power Company Limited (‘ONGC-T’) by Summit India (Tripura) Pte. Limited (‘Summit’).^[1]

Summit is a wholly owned subsidiary of Summit Power International Limited (‘SPIL’). The ultimate holding entity of Summit is Pioneer Generation Holdings Pte. Limited (‘PGH’). PGH group is engaged in developing, owning and operating power generating assets. PGH group has 78% shareholding in SPIL, and the remaining 22% shares of SPIL are held by JERA Power International B.V. (‘JERA’) with a right to appoint two directors on the board of SPIL.

ONGC-T is a public limited company incorporated in India, and is engaged in the business of generation, supply and transmission of electricity in India. Summit is not directly or indirectly present in the power sector in India. However, JERA (that jointly controls PGH group) has an indirect shareholding of 9.07% along with a right to appoint a director in ReNew Power Private Limited (‘ReNew’) that is engaged in the business of electricity generation.

CCI decided to leave the determination of relevant market open because the transaction was unlikely to cause any AAEC in any of the relevant markets. CCI noted that the combined market share of ONGC-T and ReNew in the market of power generation in India was 0-5%. Further, there were no existing or potential vertical or complementary relationships between ONGC-T and ReNew. Accordingly, CCI decided to approve this transaction.

[1] Combination Registration No. C-2021/05/841.