"A number of major banks including Indusind and ABN-Amro have approached us. But the exchange will have only one institutional clearing member to start with," Soyabean Processors Association of India (Sopa) chairman Harsh Maheshwari told PTI.

Sopa would incorporate the futures exchange for soyabean and its products by end of this month and commence operation in September, he said.

Sopa had applied for recognition as a multi-commodity futures exchange and is planning to conduct futures trading in rapeseed as well, Maheshwari said.

With the futures exchange all set to formally take off in the month of September and inclusion of online trading, it was necessary to have an authorised clearing institution, he said.

"As and when the volume oftrade picks up and the number of members increase, we will raise the number of clearing institutions," he said.

Maheshwari said after Sopa finalised the name of the institutional clearing member, it would have to be approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The Sopa chairman said some of the banks like ABN-Amro had experience in business of futures trade and added that their presence as clearing members would add to the credibility of the exchange.

Sopa was expecting clearance of bylaws for the futures exchange from the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) in a day or two, he said.

Sopa has also submitted the article of understanding with the government and expects it to be approved soon.

Mock trading at the exchange, which would be incorporated as Sopa Board of Trade, would begin by July-end in Indore.

Sopa is expecting a minimum trade turnover of Rs 10,000 crore at the exchange with the entire 60-odd lakh tonnes of soyabean crop being traded at the exchange.

The exchange is also likely to havea number of foreign players who are looking forward to India as a major market for exports, he said.

While the coffee and pepper futures exchanges in Bangalore and Kochi were affected by low volumes, Maheshwari said, the soyabean futures would have sufficient volume as the domestic output was much higher and there was a sustainable increase in area under soyabean cultivation.

Besides soyabean, the government had last month cleared futures in nine other oilseeds, including rapeseed/mustard, groundnut, sesame and sunflower.