Kerala - Kochi   

Call for market on uniform pricing

KOCHI: B.C. Khatua, chairman, Forward Markets Commission, has suggested the setting up of an integrated market throughout the country for uniform pricing.

He was talking to reporters here on Saturday on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the National Multi Commodities Exchange of India (NMCE).

There should be fiscal and non-fiscal measures for market integration and the new Warehousing Act would help in attaining a common market, he said. The European Union market was much more integrated and India was also looking for such a model, he said.

He said the Forward Markets Commission has decided to install price ticker boards in regional languages in various local markets in the country to display commodity prices.

These ticker boards will display both spot and future prices of commodities in a local language of a particular area on a regular basis to help farmers to fetch better pricing for their commodities.The installation of the ticker boards will run throughout the 11th Plan period, he said.

The FMC will bear 65 per cent of the cost for installing ticker boards and the remaining by various commodity exchanges. Of the 7,500 local markets (mandis), only 2,500 have computerised system of price indicators, he said adding that the ticker boards would create awareness and more participation among the farming community in commodities futures.

Mr. Khatua said the level of farmers in commodities participating in the U.S,. Canada and Australia was limited to only 20 to 25 per cent. But this did not mean that they were not interested in commodities futures.

They were getting good price realisation from the commodities market because of using better technology, he said.

He was also of the view that there should be a common platform for different regional exchanges for price stability. These exchanges had good domain knowledge on particular regional commodities. As these exchanges were working in the producing areas, the delivery time was so short. The objective of FMC was to cash in on the positive aspects of regional exchanges, he said.

He also called upon banks and cooperative societies to adopt the Federal Bank model of giving credit to farmers in commodities market as it would enhance farmers’ participation.

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