FARMER SHOULD BENEFIT FROM FUTURES TRADING IN FOODGRAINS - PRIME
MINISTER
Futures trading
in wheat and rice should benefit the farmer and not just the traders,
said Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee here today. Inaugurating
online Futures Trading in wheat and rice by the Ahmedabad based
National Multi Commodity Exchange Ltd. (NMCE), he said the Central
and State Government agencies had to take necessary steps including
rapid expansion of rural warehousing facilities for this purpose.
Shri Vajpayee
pointed out the need for strengthening the regulatory system for
commodity exchanges to create confidence among all stake holders.
He also called for legislative changes to enable innovations such
as warehouse receipt based settlement mechanisms, besides creating
better infrastructure and logistics comprising rural roads, highways,
railways and port development. India has an opportunity to chase
a US $ 600 billion market by building a commodity trading exchange
of global standards, he added.
Speaking on the
occasion, Shri Sharad Yadav, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food
and Public Distribution underlined the need for concerted effects
from all concerned to reach the benefit of futures trading to
the producer. Government will initiate the necessary steps to
strengthen the regulatory structure for futures trading in all
commodities. A high level inter-Ministerial Task Force which had
been created for this purpose has also recommended the strengthening
of Forward Markets Commissions, the Regulatory Mechanism for Futures
Trading, he said.
Earlier in his
welcome speech Shri Subhash Maharia, Minister of State for Consumer
Affairs, Food and Public Distribution pointed out that the inauguration
of Futures Trading in wheat and rice might result in low procurement
by government agencies on minimum support price. With the commencement
of the online futures trading in wheat and rice the commodities
traded on the network of NMCE has gone upto 51 including agro
and non-agro products. The Central Warehousing Corporation(CWC),
the lead promoter of NMCE will provide access to its vast network
of 493 warehouses with a storage capacity of 9.3 million metric
tons with additional capacities of State Warehouses in which CWC
has 50 per cent partnership.
