PM TO INAUGURATE FUTURES TRADING IN RICE AND WHEAT TOMORROW
Prime Minister, Shri
Atal Bihari will inaugurate Futures Trading in Rice and Wheat
at a function to be held here tomorrow. This marks the culmination
of the initiatives of the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution, Shri Sharad Yadav to bring substantial benefits
to the two extremities in the value chain, the farmer and the
consumer. This is expected to boost the economy in a significant
manner through greater price rationalisation for the consumer
and better margin realisation besides providing access to a national
market to the farmer through the creation of a common pool of
domestic agricultural resources.
National Multi-Commodity
Exchange of India Ltd. (NMCE), Ahmedabad has provided fool-proof
mechanism for conducting online futures trading in wheat and rice
with its network covering 48 locations and a membership of 214
traders. Promoted by commodity-relevant public sector undertakings
such as Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), National Agricultural
Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), National Institute
of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), Gujarat Agro-Industries Corporation
Ltd. (GAICL) and Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board (GSAMB),
NMCE commenced its operations on November 26, 2002.
With the launch of
futures trading in rice and wheat, the commodities traded on NMCE
will go upto 51 comprising both agro-and non-agro products. Central
Warehousing Corporation (CWC), the lead promoter of NMCE will
play a major role in the successful operation of futures trading
in these two commodities by providing access to its network of
493 warehouses with a storage capacity of 9.3 million metric tonnes
with additional capacities of the State Warehouses where CWC has
50 per cent partnership. Futures trading in wheat and rice would
help traders do away with storage of excessive stocks and bring
down the carrying cost resulting in a possible reduction in the
economic cost of foodgrains.
