Centre mulls ordinance to regulate commodities

The Bill, introduced on March 21 this year, is currently with the food and consumer affairs standing committee headed by DP Yadav, who attributed the delay in tabling the report to drastic changes in the draft legislation. The report 8212; understood to have called for a ban on futures trade in wheat 8212; is likely to be tabled in Parliament on December 19.

The report, the sources said, would come down heavily on the government over its food policy, pointing out that procurement levels had fallen at a time when production had shown only a marginal decline.

The government itself has come under tremendous pressure over the last few months over the rising prices of essential commodities, especially wheat and pulses. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also voiced concern in the last Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in August, contending that an effective regulatory framework to deal with speculation, particularly in wheat, was necessary.

The sources said that while forward trading was an integral component of the commodities market, the absence of a strong regulator with statutory backing, like in the capital market, has subjected the sector to artificial volatility.