‘It Is Important To Have An Equitable Growth’, Arun Jaitley Union Minister For Finance
National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) launched India’s first Agri-Options on guar seed futures last Sunday. It has been witnessed as another step towards doubling farmers’ income. Speaking in the tune of PM, Jaitley had also highlighted the importance of empowering the farmers’ for overall growth.
National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) launched India’s first Agri-Options on guar seed futures on Sunday in the presence of SEBI, WDRA, Industry Associations, Government Officials and FPO members. Farmers from various states across the country, present at the occasion marked the commencement with a live trade by a farmer-producer company.
Inaugurating the conference, Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Finance said, “India ranks among the fastest growing major economies in the world. Since a large portion of our population is dependent on agriculture, it is important to have equitable growth. Farmers have helped the country overcome a long period of scarcities to reach the present era of abundance. NCDEX Agri-options are an important tool which will contribute to the Prime Minister’s vision of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022. Guar seed is a major contributor to revenue generation, hence making it a suitable commodity to start with for Options. I congratulate NCDEX for this initiative.”
“This may appear to be a small step, but is a significant one, in the direction of agricultural trade as this will ensure that the farmers will receive a better price for their commodities.” Jaitley further added.
This new hedging tool, Agri-Options: ‘Ek Aur Kadam Kisan Pragati Ki Ore (Another step towards progress)’, is set to mark an important evolution in trading of agriculture commodities market. This instrument will give a strong impetus towards systematic development and transformation of commodity derivatives market in India, which will make the agri-economy more efficient and bring a huge amount of value for the farmers of India. A Mandi.com mobile application was also launched on the occasion, where farmers can learn more about agri-Options and the commodities market.
Elaborating on the benefits of Options, Rabi Narayan Das, Chairman, NCDEX, said, “The long wait for agri-commodity Options has finally come to an end with the launch of agri-Options on NCDEX’s platform. Agri-Options will serve as a powerful tool to empower farmers by allowing them to lock in the prices of their produce at a minimum cost. It has the potential to transform Indian commodity market in a way that will benefit more farmers across the country for their hedging requirements. While, as of now, Agri-Options is allowed in only one agri-commodity, we can expect more commodities under this over a period of time.”
The occasion was also addressed by Suresh Prabhu, the Minister of Commerce & Industry with a recorded video message, he had also welcomed the Agri-Options to the commodity market, “I congratulate NCDEX for taking this noble step, which will contribute towards empowering the farming community and will further strengthen the agricultural ecosystem.”
Announcing the launch, Samir Shah, CEO, NCDEX said, “We are thankful to SEBI for giving us the ‘go-ahead’ for introducing Options on guar seed futures, which will help the farmers in better price realization and risk mitigation. Our journey to connect farmers to the market would not have been possible without the immense support of our stakeholders and value chain partners and I take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to all those who have contributed to making this happen. This instrument will create a win-win situation for farmers irrespective of the price movement. We hope with this step we bring more and more PRAGATI for everyone.”
A discussion on Agri-commodity markets, a panel discussion was also conducted by NCDEX. The panel was presided by experts Dr. Ramesh Chand, Member, Niti Aayog, Mr. Shashank Saksena, SAG Economic Advisor, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Mr. D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and MD, SMC Comtrade Ltd., and Shri Samir Shah, MD & CEO, NCDEX. The panel discussed the role Agri-Options can play as a new age hedging tool in the hands of the farmers and will be a game changer in the Agri-Commodity markets. The speakers said working models in other countries need to be studied so that retail prices for consumers can come down.
