Turnover of commodity exchanges fell 43 per cent to Rs 48.54 lakh crore till January 15 this fiscal due to poor participation.
According to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), these exchanges had generated business worth Rs 85.28 lakh crore between April and January 15 last financial year.
According to the latest data released by the Forward Markets Commission, there was decline in turnover in almost all commodities.
The maximum decline in turnover was reported in bullion, metals, energy and agricultural commodities.
Turnover from bullion fell 54 per cent to Rs 17.17 lakh crore during April-January 15 of this fiscal from Rs 37.39 lakh crore in the year-ago period.
Similarly, the business from base metals like copper declined 39 per cent to Rs 12.48 lakh crore from Rs 20.49 lakh crore, while the turnover from energy items fell 34 per cent to Rs 10.07 lakh crore from Rs 15.14 lakh crore.
Turnover from agriculture commodities dropped 28 per cent to Rs 8.81 lakh crore during the April-January 15 period of this fiscal against Rs 12.25 lakh crore in the same period previous year, the FMC data showed.
Experts said lack of volatility in commodities market and high transaction cost have kept many investors at bay, while the Rs 5,600-crore scam at the commodity spot exchange NSEL has also dented investor confidence.
Currently, there are four national-level and six regional-level commodity exchanges operating in the country.