SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Singapore's Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCS) has raised anti-competition concerns over the takeover of Air India by the Tata group.

The commission noted that Air India and Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata group's principal investment holding company Tata Sons, are 2 of the 3 key market players along overlapping air passenger and air cargo transport routes.

These include the provision of international air passenger transport services along direct flights on the Singapore-Mumbai and Singapore-Delhi routes, as well as the provision of air cargo transport services from Singapore to India.

"Both airlines are likely to be each other's close, if not the closest, competitor," CCCS said in a media statement on Friday (Jun 3).

CCCS had in January accepted an application from Talace, a Tata Sons subsidiary incorporated solely for the takeover of India's national carrier, for a decision on whether the takeover infringes a section of the Competition Act 2004, which prohibits mergers that have resulted or may be expected to result in a "substantial lessening of competition" within any market in Singapore.

The commission has at this point completed the first phase of its review.

In its statement, CCCS said third party feedback also suggests the presence of Singapore Airlines as a significant competitor of Air India and Vistara along overlapping passenger and cargo transport routes, but that it needs to further assess the extent to which Singapore Airlines competes with the merged entity along these routes.

CCCS said it also needs to further assess whether the "competitive constraint" from other airlines, such as IndiGo, would be sufficient post-transaction.