WDRA, Sebi working on norms to regulate non-agri commodities warehouses

Sebi is co-ordinating with the WRDA to expedite the regulations for warehouses storing non-agri commodities

The Warehousing Develop-ment and Regulatory Authority (WDRA), India’s decade-old regulator for the sector, is working on norms for non-agricultural commodities. So long, the authority was regulating warehouses storing agricultural commodities.

The requirements for warehouses and the applicable norms differ for agri and non-agri commodities. The move is significant because institutional investors are not comfortable dealing with unregulated entities.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has permitted mutual funds and hedge funds, apart from portfolio investors, to invest in commodities. 

Simultaneously, the capital markets regulator has mandated the exchanges to settle derivatives of all commodities, except crude oil and