Commexes' turnover drops 52% during Apr-Oct this fiscal

Experts say fall in business mainly due to higher transaction costs after imposition of CTT last year

The turnover of the commodity exchanges fell by 52 per cent to Rs 34.52 lakh crore during the April-October period this fiscal due to sluggish volumes in almost all commodities, according to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).

The exchanges had generated a business worth Rs 71.60 lakh crore in the same period last year, the FMC said in its latest report.

The commodity markets regulator said that the business fell in almost all commodities -- agriculture, bullion, metals and energy on the exchanges platform.

Experts attributed the fall in business mainly to higher transaction costs especially after the imposition of commodity transaction tax (CTT) from last year onwards.

The turnover from bullion fell by over 62 per cent to Rs 12.13 lakh crore in the April-October period of the 2014-15 fiscal, from Rs 32.17 lakh crore in the year-ago.

Similarly, the business from energy items declined by over 53 per cent to Rs 8.16 lakh crore from Rs 17.48 lakh crore, the turnover from metals declined by 43 per cent to Rs 7.51 lakh crore from Rs 13.11 crore in the review period.

The turnover from agricultural commodities too fell by 24 per cent to Rs 6.70 lakh crore in the April-October period of this year, as against Rs 8.82 lakh crore a year ago.

At present, there are four national and six regional level exchanges operating in the country.