Commodities exchange NCDEX said on Tuesday that it will soon launch smaller contracts of one tonne each for castorseed and chana futures to boost trading volumes.

“We received the Forward Markets Commission approval last week to launch smaller contracts of one tonne in chana and castorseed. We expect to launch them early March,” NCDEX Managing Director Samir Shah told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on new age agri-marketing solutions. The smaller contracts in castorseed and chana will co-exist along with the parent contracts, which have a lot size of 10 tonnes each.

More on cards Shah said that response to the recently-launched silver and steel contracts was good and the exchange was also looking at launching contracts in iron ore and coal going forward. However, he did not spell out any timeframe for these contracts.

NCDEX is also planning to step up its presence in the spot commodity markets through rollout of its electronic auction platform.

E-market service The Rashtriya e-Market Services, NCDEX’s joint venture with the Karnataka Government, recently rolled out unified market platform (UMP) – an e-auction system in the three markets of Tiptur, Arasikere and Chamrajanagar in the southern State. Copra is the major commodity traded in Tiptur and Arasikere markets, while turmeric dominates trade in Chamarajanagar. The unified market platform will be rolled out in 94 markets in the State over the next three years, said GV Krishna Rau, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka. These 94 markets account for about 96 per cent of the commodities traded in the State.

Pilot projects Shah also said pilot projects of the e-auction were being run in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The turnover on the NCDEX Spot Exchange has more than doubled to about ₹5,000 crore. NCDEXis targeting a turnover of $1 billion by the end of this fiscal, Shah said.

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