Quantity restrictions for certain commodities in near-month contracts will be removed shortly, Forward Markets Commission (FMC) chairman BC Khatua said here on Saturday. The position limits on commodities like pepper constraint hedgers and it is unfair, he said. FMC will review the decision shortly and make things easier for exporters, he added.
Regarding the price discovery mechanism in spot market, Khatua said that there was scope for improvement. ?The polling agents must be true representatives. The base must be increased from the present 20 to 100. Officials should also visit the physical market to gauge the sentiments,? he said. ?The present system must be made more transparent and neutral .The farmers must realise the benefit of the futures market,? he said.
FMC was working towards increasing the participation of farmers through awareness programmes. ?We will install price ticker boards in all the recognised large markets of the nation. Price information will be displayed in regional languages,? he said. The programme will run through the 11th Plan with FMC funding 65% of the expense and exchanges sharing the rest, he said.
Khatua said that he was looking at the aggregation model to take forward the futures trade in India. Aggregation will help in increasing the tradable lot of non-cash crops and empower the farmers. It will also reduce the risk and help in getting credit, he added. Khatua was very critical about the ban on futures trading in commodities like wheat. He said that the ban did not help anyone in particular while hurting the farmers the most.