The futures markets were restarted in India less than five years ago with much fanfare and as a much-needed price discovery mechanism, especially for agricultural commodities. It was also envisaged to be a platform for hedging, i.e. price risk management for producers (read farmers), consumers, processors and traders. In many ways, it was a godsend for farmers in particular because agri-commodities see wide price fluctuations exposing the farmer to unnecessary price risks. The logical response of any government would be to ensure that farmers have a fair and transparent pricing mechanism available for their products. Even the Abhijeet Sen committee report, in its second point of reference, was clearly asked to find ways to increase the participation of farmer in futures trading. Instead, the government has gone ahead and banned futures trading in eight of the most economically important agricommodities and even as it is itself hedging wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade. At the very least, the dichotomy between banning wheat futures here and then going and hedging in the US market it intriguing. What’s sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gander.   more »