By IANS,
New Delhi : The cabinet Thursday approved the Forward Contract Regulation Act (Amendment) Bill providing more autonomy to the commodities market regulator, the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).
The Bill also seeks to facilitate entry of institutional investors and pave the way for introduction of new category of products, like Options.
The bill was deferred several times in the past few months following strong opposition from the Trinamool Congress (TMC). With the TMC pulling out of the UPA, the government found it easier to clear the bill, considered essential for development of commodities futures trade.
At present, the country has five national and 16 regional commodity exchanges. The FMC recently approved the Universal Commodity Exchange to operate as a national bourse.