The decision to go solo in bagging the dollar contracts came in the wake of the associations' decisions to reject the interim report submitted by the Mumbai-based Mecklai Financial and Commercial Services Ltd, a leading consultancy firm specialising in commodity futures.

The Ipsta will also seek the technical support and expertise of its clearing banks, IndusInd and Global Trust for preparing a full report on dollar contracts before approaching the apex bank, top officials of the association said.

President of Ipsta Kishor Shamji told The Financial Express that the association has decided to terminate the consultancy contract with the Mecklai Services as the consultants failed to comply with the terms of reference of the contract. He said, the terms of reference of theconsultancy made its explicit that the report should map out the nitty-gritty of introducing dollar contracts on ICE within the existing institutional framework of the association. The consultants were also expected to find out ways to market the exchange among other global players.

However, he said, the interim report submitted by the consultant has thrown these cardinal concepts in the contract to wind and rather came out with a report that did not conform to the contract's terms. "The report submitted by the consultants are totally at odds with the terms of reference of the consultancy and did not specify how the dollar contracts can be implemented under the present structure", Kishor said.

He said the report submitted by the Mecklai Services suggested recasting the association's structure lock, stock and barrel. The report called for a thorough change in the organisation structure including the composition of the director board, the governing body of the exchange. It wanted the company to shed itspresent section 25 non-profit making image and be driven by the profit. The report, according to sources, wanted a new company to be registered with sufficient paid up capital collected by way of issuing equity to the shareholders. This, according to the consultants, will provide not only the much needed liquidity to the exchange for working capital needs but also brings in more accountability in the management of the bourse.

Besides, it also helps the exchange to raise additional finances to set up the state-of-the-art trading platform like electronic trading, the report said. The Ipsta director board felt that it would tantamount to go against the very spirit of the association, which had successfully run the pepper futures trade for the past four decades. ICE, which was inaugurated with much fan fare in 1997, has been in limbo since then as no foreign players have ventured pick up trading interest on the bourse.

A major factor, according to experts, blocking the entry of foreign traders is the absenceof dollar denominated contracts on the only pepper futures exchange in the world.