India's competition regulator may make a big change to clear deals worth $1.3 billion

Decks have been cleared for the approval of crucial merger and acquisition (M&A) deals at the Competition Commission of India (CCI), people in the know of the matter told CNBC-TV18. At least 20 combination deals worth $ 1.3 billion had been stuck for the last four months as the CCI did not have the quorum required to clear deals.

The CCI currently has only two members, with one doubling as chairperson against a quorum requirement of three members. Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the government's top law officers have recommended the quorum requirement be waived off as the process of appointment of new chairperson and other members will take time.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA),  which is the nodal body for the CCI, has received a nod from the law ministry to invoke the doctrine of necessity. It is also learnt that the approvals for the first set of M&A's may come as early as Friday and more deals could be cleared next week.

Last week, CNBC-TV18 had reported that the CCI had approached the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to waive the quorum requirement as the process of approving M&A's, foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals and corporate insolvency resolution cases had been badly hit due to the lack of a full time chairperson and the required quorum.

The MCA also extended the tenure of acting Competition Commission of India (CCI) Chairperson Sangeeta Verma till further orders. Verma was appointed the acting chairperson in October last year, after the full-time Chairperson Ashok Kumar Gupta demitted office.