NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s competition authority is investigating a complaint against Saint-Gobain that the French group forced certain partners to buy glass from it exclusively or risk being barred from sourcing, documents show. viewed by Reuters.

The complaint against Saint-Gobain and its local unit was filed on May 25 with the Indian Competition Commission (CCI) by a retired glass industry executive, whose identity was redacted from the documents at the request of the person.

Saint-Gobain and its Indian unit, Saint-Gobain India Private Limited, are accused of abusing their position in the market for transparent float glass, a variant often used for windows, doors or facades, and glass variants to layer.

Saint-Gobain holds 44% of the Indian float glass market and 19% of the coated glass market, according to the documents.

The group told Reuters it was not aware of any complaint, notice or document and had not been notified.

The group and its Indian unit “carry out their activities in compliance with the laws”, in particular competition law, said Saint-Gobain.

The CCI did not respond to a request for comment.

The documents relating to the case accuse Saint-Gobain of having concluded agreements with glass processors, obliging them to obtain supplies “exclusively” from the company under penalty of no longer being supplied.

They also claim that in some cases the company has directly priced with large clients such as Indian real estate giant DLF. Saint-Gobain then asked distributors to stock up at those rates, according to the documents.

DLF declined to comment.

According to the filings, Saint-Gobain also offered “significant discounts” on products if a glass processor or distributor sourced exclusively from the group, and did not supply those who dealt with rivals.

(Aditya Kalra report; Diana Mandiá, edited by Kate Entringer)

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