On August 9, 2021, CCI approved the acquisition of 100% of the equity share capital in Jaypee Infratech Limited (‘JIL’) collectively by Suraksha Realty Limited (‘Suraksha’) and Lakshdeep Investments and Finance Private Limited (‘Lakshdeep’).^[1]

Suraksha is engaged in the business of real estate development and construction of residential and commercial properties in and around Mumbai. Lakshdeep is registered as a non-banking financial company with the Reserve Bank of India and has investments in various companies engaged in lending and real estate activities in Mumbai. JIL (a part of the Jaypee group) is a special purpose vehicle incorporated to undertake the Yamuna Expressway Project which was awarded by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority to Jaiprakash Industries Limited, another entity belonging to the Jaypee group. JIL has business presence in the areas of real estate and healthcare.

In its competition assessment, CCI assessed the horizontal overlaps between the business activities of Suraksha, Lakshdeep and JIL in the broader market for provision of real estate business in India. CCI noted that both Suraksha and Laskdheep were engaged in the real estate development in residential and commercial spaces in Mumbai and Thane (with no operations outside Maharashtra), while JIL is engaged in real estate development and construction in Uttar Pradesh. However, the presence of Suraksha, Lakshdeep and JIL was not significant to raise any competition concerns in the real estate business market, at the broader pan-India market with there being no overlaps at the narrower city wide / state wide market. On this basis, CCI decided to approve the proposed transaction.

[1] Combination Registration No. C-2021/07/853.