New Delhi, 02.01.2026 : The Competition Commission of India has held textile manufacturers KKK Mills and Sankeshwar Synthetics Pvt. Ltd. guilty of bid rigging in a defence procurement tender for woollen underpants floated by the Directorate General of Ordnance Services. The Commission found that the companies had engaged in collusive bidding, in violation of Section 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, which prohibits anti-competitive agreements and bid rigging.
The order was passed by a bench comprising Chairperson Ravneet Kaur and Members Anil Agrawal, Sweta Kakkad and Deepak Anurag, in a reference initiated under Section 19(1)(b) of the Act by the CP Cell of the Master General of Ordnance Branch.
The case stemmed from a tender issued in July 2019 for the supply of woollen underpants, in which both KKK Mills and Sankeshwar Synthetics quoted an identical price of ₹127.90 per unit. Suspecting cartelisation, the DGOS cancelled the tender and issued a fresh tender in November 2020. In the re-tender as well, both firms again quoted the exact same price, ₹122.75 per unit, triggering a detailed investigation.
The Commission noted that quoting identical prices up to two decimal points in two separate tenders, held more than a year apart, raised a strong presumption of collusion. The investigation carried out by the Director General examined bid data, email correspondence, call data records and business linkages between the parties.
The CCI observed that in both tenders, the bids were submitted within minutes of each other and well before the closing deadlines, indicating coordinated conduct rather than independent decision-making. It held that such synchronised behaviour went beyond mere price parallelism.
Rejecting the defence that identical pricing resulted from an oligopsonistic market with the Ministry of Defence as the sole buyer, the Commission held that the firms had access to multiple government and private buyers. It also rejected the argument that similar raw material costs explained the identical quotes, noting that neither firm produced independent pricing calculations to support this claim.
The investigation further revealed extensive communication between the two firms, including through related entities, both before and after bid submission. Relying on emails, call records and evidence of business linkages, the Commission concluded that prices had been pre-arranged and participation in tenders coordinated. It also noted a broader pattern of collusive conduct in other tenders, including sharing of rates and allocation of supply orders.
The Commission held that there were “other plus factors apart from price parallelism” clearly indicating bid rigging and collusive bidding, which resulted in an appreciable adverse effect on competition.
The CCI also held Vikas Gupta, Partner of KKK Mills, and Anuj Jain, Director of Sankeshwar Synthetics Pvt. Ltd., liable under Section 48 of the Act, observing that both were actively involved in the conduct of their companies’ business and had full knowledge of the tendering process.
On the question of penalty, the Commission took note of submissions that the firms were MSMEs, that the tender had ultimately been cancelled, and that no income was derived from the impugned conduct. It also recorded the difficulty in determining the relevant turnover attributable to the infringement. Taking a holistic view, the CCI decided not to impose a monetary penalty and instead directed the companies and the individuals concerned to cease and desist from engaging in such anti-competitive practices. The Commission cautioned that any future recurrence would be treated as recidivism and invite stricter consequences.
The proceedings were disposed of with cease-and-desist directions issued under Section 27(a) of the Act.
Case reference : Ref. Case No. 01 of 2021, CP Cell, Master General of Ordnance Service vs M/s KKK Mills and Another
Counsels/Present : CP Cell, Directorate General Ordnance Service Harikesh Pratap Singh GSO1/OS/CN On behalf of Union of India. M/s KKK Mills Utsav Mukherjee, Advocate Bhaskar, Advocate Vikas Gupta, Partner. M/s Sankeshwar Synthetics Pvt. Ltd. Pulkit Agarwal, Advocate Md. Anas Chaudhary, Advocate Anuj Jain, Partner
