e-Commodities looks to cast its net wide

National commodity exchanges may soon have to face competition in e-Commodities Ltd, a five-year-old commodities trading platform which is yet to take off. e-Commodities, whose promoters are looking for a buyer, may start operations soon.

The online exchange, licensed five years ago to trade in commodities "� primarily sugar, has been put up for sale, and one of its three promoters "� P Rama Babu, MD, EID Parry (India), S L Jain and V K Gupta "� has reportedly evinced interest in it.

The possible buyer, according to sources, is EID Parry. However, though he confirmed the move for putting e-Commodities on sale, Babu denied any decision to buy the exchange.

"We are looking for a probable buyer and perhaps, the formula for sale would be completed in the next 15 days," he said.

"Some employees of the exchange have shown interest in running the show," Babu added.

However, Business Standard, on visiting the exchange and the consultant appointed for completing the accounts, found that the employees of the exchange had already been shifted to some undisclosed sugar companies and, hence, no employees were now working exclusively for e-Commodities.

"We do not want the exchange to die and, therefore, want to pass on the licence to a competent buyer with the sole purpose of running the exchange," the consultant said. Without divulging the details of the accounts, he said the exchange made huge losses as there had been no source of income.

"In short, the equity has been eroded," he added. e-Commodities came into being five years ago when sugar companies desired to have an organised trading platform for themselves.

But it was felt that "since national commodities exchanges like MCX and NCDEX started trading in sugar and quite smoothly, why to have another exchange?" Babu said.