PTI

New Delhi: With the ban on futures trading in eight farm commodities still lingering, commodity exchanges have lost over 32% of their business in agri-futures even as the total turnover rose by 46.90% to nearly Rs28,00,000 crore during 2008-09 till 15 October.

The agri-commodities business on commodity exchanges clocked during the review period Rs3,36,431 crore, down by 32.37% from the previous year, the commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) said in a release.

Experts attributed the ban on eight farm commodities like pulses, potato and soya oil as the main reason for the slump in agri-futures trading.

The government suspended futures trading in rice, wheat, urad and tur without setting any timeframe, while the other four -- rubber, soya oil, potato and gram (chana) -- have been banned till the end of this month.

However, during the 1 - 15 October period, the total turnover of the three national exchanges and 19 regional exchanges increased by 39.48% to Rs2,05,590 crore as compared to the year-ago period, according to FMC, which releases trade data every fortnight.

As per the FMC data, the turnover of the leading exchange, Multi-Commodities Exchange, stood at Rs1,85,045 crore, while the leading agri-commodity bourse, National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange, recorded a business of Rs18,134 crore. Ahmedabad-based National Multi-Commodities Exchange registered a turnover of Rs1,019 crore.

Among the regional bourses, Indore-based National Board of Trade made a business of Rs439.74 crore, while the Surendranagar Cotton and Oilseeds Association’s turnover stood at Rs317 crore in the second fortnight of September.