Commodity markets bill put off again

The government has further deferred a decision on a bill that seeks to give more powers to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the commodity markets regulator, reportedly as food and consumer affairs minister K V Thomas was not present at Friday's meeting of the union cabinet.

"The Forward Contract Regulation Act (FCRA) amendment bill has been deferred," a minister who was present at the cabinet meeting told reporters on Friday evening.

The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, did not think it would be prudent to take up the bill since Thomas was not present, PTI reported citing sources.

The amendment to the FCRA is considered essential for development of commodities futures trade as it aims to strengthen the regulator by providing it financial autonomy.

The Bill also aims to facilitate the entry of institutional investors. This would pave the way for introduction of new products for trading such as options and futures.

The cabinet had deferred a decision on this bill last month as well, following opposition from the Trinamool Congress.