This indicates two things: One, the urgency of the government to hastencommodity futures trading in the country. Two, the government is convincedthat the existing 20-plus comexes will not be able to take up the challengeeither by some of the better ones coming together as was suggested earlier,or by pooling their funds for a common online trading platform as isrequired. It is important that such a body is set up at the earliest toattract institutional funds (as on the securities market) as well as helpcorporates hedge their varied commodity-related risks, which the ReserveBank of India has permitted to hedge on the international comexes sinceSeptember 1998.

Risk hedging activity is primarily a private sector affair and not that ofthe government which is slowly moving out of manufacturing and tradingactivities. Ideally, those engaged in both manufacturing and trading ofcommodities should have come forth either to set up the NCE or to supportthe FMC's efforts to improve existing comexes.

The private sector's indifference in this direction reveals its weakmentality of depending upon the government to set up a commercialinstitution that evokes confidence and offers a professional and impartialadministration. The indifference emanates out of its relative ill concerntowards risk-hedging mechanism even in these days of free trade, intensecompetition and fluctuating currencies. Globally, leading comexes are setup by the private sector and not by the government, but the tradingpractices there do evoke confidence backed by an impartial administration.