Commodity OnlineNEW DELHI: Will the India government lift the ban on futures trading on agri commodities like rubber, soy oil, rice and wheat soon? The decision depends on whether India would get a good monsoon and a bumber crop or not.
Commodity exchanges, a section of traders and broking houses are pressing for lifting the ban that the government had imposed three months back on potato, rubber, gram (chana) and soyaoil. And last year, futures trading on rice, wheat, tur and urad were banned.
"We have got several memorandums for and against lifting the ban on futures trading in these eight agriculture commodities. But whether to lift the ban or not wholly depends on the crops situation in the country," a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture told
Commodity Online.
He said the government would take a decision on futures trading in these commodities after studying the prospect of kharif crop and price situation in a number of farm products. "We are going to review the crop situation next week," the official pointed out.
He said the government will review the ban on futures trading in the agri commodities later this month. But the official added the government has no plans to ban futures trading in any other commodities.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has also ruled out ban on futures trading in any other commodities last month.
Commodity exchanges and the broking community hope that since the Left parties that had vehemently argued for a ban on futures trading in commodities are now out of power at the Centre, it would be easy for the government to lift the futures ban.
