Which of the following Institution has been engaged by the Competition Commission of India in 2024, to conduct a market study on Artificial Intelligence and Competition ?
- (1)Indian School of Business
- (2)Management Development Institute Society
- (3)Institute of Rural Management, Anand
- (4)IIM, Indore
Answer
Why
Correct — option (2), Management Development Institute Society.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs announced the choice through PIB on 13 September 2024. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had issued a Request for Proposal for a Market Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Competition in April 2024.
After completing the selection process, CCI engaged Management Development Institute Society (MDIS) to conduct the study. CCI and MDIS signed the agreement on 9 September 2024.
The release lists six objectives. Among them: understanding key AI systems and their markets, examining emerging competition issues, reviewing AI regulation in India and other major jurisdictions, and working out CCI's enforcement and advocacy priorities on AI.
The idea to remember: CCI chose MDIS through a Request for Proposal, and the agreement was signed on 9 September 2024.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Indian School of Business — The Indian School of Business, with campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, does not appear in CCI's announcement.
PIB's release of 13 September 2024 names one agency for the AI market study: Management Development Institute Society (MDIS), selected after the Request for Proposal of April 2024. A familiar business-school name is not evidence for the answer.
- (3)Institute of Rural Management, Anand — The Institute of Rural Management is in Anand, Gujarat. It is not the agency CCI engaged.
The PIB release of 13 September 2024 says CCI engaged Management Development Institute Society (MDIS) for the Market Study on Artificial Intelligence and Competition, and that the agreement was signed on 9 September 2024.
- (4)IIM, Indore — IIM Indore, an Indian Institute of Management in Madhya Pradesh, is not named in CCI's announcement.
The agency CCI selected for the AI study was Management Development Institute Society (MDIS). When CCI released the finished report on 6 October 2025, it again credited MDIS, and the report's disclaimer names Management Development Institute, Gurgaon.
Concept
The Competition Commission of India is a statutory authority established under the Competition Act, 2002. Section 18 of the Act casts a duty on it to eliminate practices having an adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect consumers' interests and ensure freedom of trade in markets in India.
A market study is a fact-finding exercise, not an enforcement case. CCI's AI report says the exercise was carried out as part of the Commission's broader advocacy mandate, and that the report is not a legal document for use in any proceedings.
The study mapped an AI stack of several layers, including data, computing infrastructure, AI development and models, and it looked at the user sectors that deploy AI.
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Persons, Places and Institutions in News" under Current Affairs, and CCI is the national regulator for competition in markets in India.
On the exam date, 2 February 2025, the study had been commissioned but its report was not yet out. CCI released the Market Study on Artificial Intelligence and Competition on 6 October 2025.
The report says AI adoption in India is rapidly accelerating across user sectors and reshaping competition dynamics. It puts India's AI market at USD 3.20 billion in 2020 and USD 6.05 billion in 2024.
Among its follow-up steps, CCI said it would organise a conference on AI and regulatory issues and set up a think tank on digital markets with a special focus on AI.
Key facts
- CCI issued a Request for Proposal for a Market Study on Artificial Intelligence and Competition in April 2024.
- CCI and Management Development Institute Society (MDIS) signed the agreement for the study on 9 September 2024; PIB announced it on 13 September 2024.
- CCI is a statutory authority established under the Competition Act, 2002; Section 18 of the Act sets out its duties.
- CCI's AI report states that the study was carried out as part of the Commission's broader advocacy mandate.
- CCI released the Market Study on Artificial Intelligence and Competition on 6 October 2025, after the exam.
Sources: PIB releases of 13 September 2024 and 6 October 2025.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing the business school whose name is most familiar. The answer rests on one fact from PIB's release of 13 September 2024: CCI engaged Management Development Institute Society.
- Treating the word 'Society' as a sign of an invented name. PIB uses the full name Management Development Institute Society (MDIS); CCI's report disclaimer names Management Development Institute, Gurgaon.
- Collapsing the stages into one date: the Request for Proposal came in April 2024, the agreement on 9 September 2024, and the report on 6 October 2025.
A question can ask which institution CCI engaged for its market study on AI and competition, or when the agreement was signed. A question can also start from the study and ask which statutory body commissioned it, or under which Act that body was established.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023 here once that paper is published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Competition Commission of India, which engaged an agency in 2024 for a market study on Artificial Intelligence and Competition, was established under which law?
- (a)Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969
- (b)Competition Act, 2002
- (c)Consumer Protection Act, 2019
- (d)Information Technology Act, 2000
Answer(2) — PIB describes CCI as a statutory authority established under the Competition Act, 2002. Option (1) is the older monopolies law that the 2002 Act replaced; option (3) set up the Central Consumer Protection Authority; option (4) governs electronic records and cyber offences. - practice — not a real PYQ
In September 2024, the Competition Commission of India signed an agreement with Management Development Institute Society to conduct a market study on which subject?
- (a)E-commerce
- (b)Artificial Intelligence and Competition
- (c)Civil aviation
- (d)Cement industry
Answer(2) — PIB's release of 13 September 2024 says MDIS was engaged for the Market Study on Artificial Intelligence and Competition, with the agreement signed on 9 September 2024. Options (1), (3) and (4) are not the subject of that agreement.