Reliance Money and National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE) plan agri spot exchange

Reliance Money and National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE) will set up a spot exchange for agricultural products.

The spot exchange, National Agriculture Produce Marketing Co of India Ltd (National APMC Ltd), is likely to start electronic spot trading in agricultural commodities later this year in Gujarat and Rajasthan, the two companies said in a statement. The electronic spot trading will allow producers to get the best possible price for their commodity, said Sudip Bandyopadhyay, chief executive of Reliance Money.

India's other national-level commodity exchanges such as National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) and Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) have also set up spot exchanges. NCDEX Spot Exchange Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NCDEX, launched spot trading in December 2007, while MCX's National Spot Exchange plans to start operations this month.

The new National APMC Ltd is planning to reach out to all the 7,500 Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) across the country over the next one year, said Kailash Gupta, managing director of NMCE. Reliance Money, a unit of financial services company Reliance Capital Ltd, is planning to acquire 26 percent stake in NMCE, the Ahmedabad-based commodity exchange. NMCE, the oldest of India's three national-level commodity derivatives exchanges, accounts for 0.7 percent of the total commodity futures trade turnover in 2007, government data showed.