NCDEX hopeful of relaunch of guar futures in one month

New Delhi, Mar 21. Commodity bourse NCDEX today said it has applied for relaunch of guar futures contracts and is hopeful of getting regulator FMC's nod within a month. The exchange also said its business will not be affected due to commodity transaction tax (CTT) on non-agricultural commodities as its exposure is largely in farm items. In March last year, Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had banned futures trading in guarseed and guargum to curb price volatility and speculation. "We are waiting for the FMC to take a call on guar futures. We have requested FMC to permit trading in guar because crop seems to be coming into the market," NCDEX Managing Director and CEO R Ramasheshan told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. He said that the government will soon take a decision on this. "In a month from now, we are hopeful of some good news." Guar gum is extracted from guar seed, production of which is expected to be 14 lakh tonnes this year, slightly lower than 17 lakh tonnes in 2011-12. India is the world's biggest exporter of the commodity. The Advisory Committee, headed by the FMC chief, has also suggested re-listing of guar futures. Asked about impact of CTT on turnover of the exchange, Ramasheshan said, "We are not worried about CTT as we have limited exposure in non-agricultural items." In the 2013-14 Budget, the government proposed to introduce 0.01 per cent CTT on non-agricultural items. On launching new commodities, he said the exchange has already applied with FMC seeking permission to launch bajra futures contracts. He also mentioned that the priority is on boosting trading volume in farm items like maize, by encouraging all stakeholders to use the futures platform. For instance, the maize futures contract was tweaked recently to encourage participation from traders/farmers both from northern and southern growing states, he added. "Daily volumes in maize contract are currently low at Rs 50 crore. The change in contract is likely to increase trade volumes to Rs 500 crore in the next 2-3 years," NCDEX Chief Business Office Vijay Kumar said. On overall turnover of NCDEX, he said the business volumes in value terms are falling due to lower price volatility. Otherwise, the quantity of commodities traded are at good level, though there is scope for scaling it up further. According to FMC data, NCDEX made a business of Rs 95,328 crore in February this year, down from Rs 1,06,149 crore in the same month last year.