MUMBAI : Godrej International's Director Dorab Mistry on Sunday said the government should lift the ban on futures trading at the earliest as it has not helped the country in any way and the curb was a wrong decision.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference here he said, "The ban on futures trading in edible oils was a bad decision as there is no element that shows a surge in inflation (due to futures trading) and is hampering the efficient working of the market.”

The government had banned futures trading in several commodities including wheat, rubber, chana, potato and soyaoil to contain inflation.

The government was misguided and should lift the ban as early as possible as crushers, traders and exporters are unable to hedge due to the ban, he said.

The commodity futures market has a lot of potential and the Government should encourage and provide opportunity to develop this market, he said.

Indian commodities market was well-regulated and had an effective hedging tool for traders, he added.

"The sooner this decision is repealed and the futures market is reinstated, the better it will be for Indian industry," Mistry said.

He said the Government should impose import duty on edible oil as prices were under pressure and farmers would be the losers. To save the farmers, the Government should consider imposing import duty marginally.

The oilseeds rates have gone down and it may soften further, he said.