New Delhi, Jan. 5 -- India's economy is at an inflection point. On one hand, we aspire to become a $5 trillion economy soon and project a bold vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. On the other, our economic reality tells a humbling story-just as we did not achieve the $5 trillion mark in 2025, as originally envisaged, the vision of 'developed' status by 2047 will not be realized if our GDP grows at its current rate.

India is shying away from a key reform that can address distortions holding the economy back: a national competition policy (NCP). If implemented, it would be our second wave of big-bang economic reforms after 1991.

While the discourse around competition in India has become synonymous with antitrust enforcement and merger appr...