The turnover of commodity bourses is expected to touch Rs 1,70,00,000 crore in 2011-12 fiscal driven by higher participation in bullion and farm items, the Consumer Affairs Secretary, Mr Rajiv Aggarwal, said today.

The turnover stood at Rs 1,19,48,000 crore in 2010-11, he said.

“The turnover of the exchanges is likely to be around Rs 1,70,00,000 crore this fiscal. It has already crossed Rs 1,50,000 crore so far,” Mr Aggarwal told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on ‘Commodity futures market — Way forward’ organised by industry body Assocham.

Higher participation in commodities like gold, silver and some farm items will boost the overall trade value this year, he said.

Earlier, while addressing the conference, Mr Aggarwal noted that “though the market has grown at rapid pace, there are challenges that lie on its growth path.”

The long-term growth prospects of the market, he said: “would be judged not merely by volumes and a variety of instruments but the extent of participation of the stakeholders in the real sector.”

To encourage the participation of various stakeholders, Mr Aggarwal further said that his Ministry has proposed the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank to consider allowing banks in commodity derivatives.

He also mentioned his Ministry has drafted a law with an aim to remove the curbs on inter-state movement of farm items and have a unified agri-marketing system.

Noting that the passage of Forward Contracts Regulation (Amendment) Bill in Parliament is crucial, he said the market cannot grow in the absence of more teeth to the FMC on the lines of SEBI.

Meanwhile, the FMC Chairman, Mr Ramesh Abhishek, said that the commodity futures market has still “a long way to go” to fully achieve the twin objectives of price discovery and price risk management.

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