Feb. 18 – The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is considering a new scheme that will provide pre-merger consultation for companies mulling over potential mergers and acquisition.

This will allow companies the opportunity to seek competition regulator’s views prior to filing proposals and cut down on approval times and delay that sometimes can take as long as 210 days. “We are considering having pre-merger consultations clause for vetting mergers under sections 5 and 6 of the Competition Act,” CCI chairman Dhanendra Kumar said in a statement during the Indo-U.S. Economic Summit held in New Delhi.

Companies  considering mergers and acquisitions will be able to approach the CCI to ensure that their proposal follows India’s Competition Act. Pre-merger consultations are common globally because it allows clarifications to be made prior to the formal filing as well as facilitates healthy industry competition.