India: NSEL to launch potato spot trading from February

In India, the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) is planning to launch potato spot trading on its exchange from February next year. It will be the first perishable commodity to be traded under this umbrella.

NSEL managing director and chief executive officer Anjani Sinha told ET: “The longer shelf life of potato offers us an opportunity to include it in the perishable commodity segment. The shelf life is 8-10 months. Also, its demand remains the same across the year. The launch of potato will be of great significance to traders, physical market participants, corporates as well as farmers,” he said.

Apart from that, the exchange has also lined up an investment of Rs 700 crore over next three years to strengthen its network. “We will ramp up our presence from 89 to 500 centres across the country. At every centre, we will provide warehousing, storage, grading, weighing and other facilities to our traders and farmers,” he said. With its expansion plans in place, the exchange aims to clock a daily turnover of Rs 5,000 crore. At present, the daily volume traded on this platform is Rs 400 crore.