The Hindu Business Line : A clarification

With reference to the news analysis, “Government misguides itself over wheat imports due to poor market research” that appeared in these columns on September 17, 2007, Prajakta Shintre, Company Secretary, National Collateral Management Services Limited (NCMSL), writes:

We strongly object to the following statements made in the analysis as they affect the reputation of the company: a) “So called experts whose understanding of the market is limited”; b) “Analysis done by NCMSL is second hand in nature”; c) “Agencies whose credentials are suspect”.

NCMSL is an organisation owned completely by large public and private institutions from the financial, co-operative and commodities sectors and is devoted to providing a unique range of services for commodity risk management. We have a team of experts tracking the commodity markets and also handholding “large” clients in professionalising their approach to the markets. All our work on market intelligence is done one-on-one with our clients and is highly confidential in nature.

We also work with lakhs of poor and marginal paddy farmers in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa to reach the minimum support price. We also work with a large number of banks and also the largest agro-commodity exchange in the country and assist them in mitigating the risk of commodity handling.

Our credibility as an institution, our analysis of the markets, as also our understanding of the situation is best left for the market to decide.