Govt does not propose to open more commodity exchanges
New Delhi, Mar 12 : There was no proposal before the government to open more Commodity Exchanges, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution K V Thomas in a written reply said according to available information there was no clear evidence that rise in food prices in India has been due to forward trading.
He said,'' An expert committee chaired by Mr Abhijit Sen, Member, Planning Commission, had analysed annual growth rate trend in prices of sensitive commodities, like foodgrains and sugar, in pre-future and post-future period.
''He had concluded that although inflation clearly increased post-futures in some sensitive commodities that have higher weight in consumer price indices, it is not possible to make any general claim that inflation accelerated more in commodities with futures trading.''
Other factors, particularly demand supply mismatches, degree of
dependence on imports and international prices in these commodities also tend to affect commodity prices, he said.
Mr Thomas said there were six National Commodity Exchanges and 16 Regional Commodity Exchanges in the country.