Indiabulls Financial Services has said that it will have a total of six partners for its commodity exchange. Indiabulls has already finalised HDFC Bank and Yes Bank as the partners, apart from MMTC which holds a 26% in the exchange, reports PTI (via Mint). The remaining two shareholders in the commodity exchange, which plans to start operations by Q1 of next fiscal, will be India Potash Ltd and a small trading firm.
Commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had told Indiabulls Financial Services to reduce its stake in the proposed commodity exchange to 40%. In the proposed exchange, to be called International Commodity Exchange, Indiabulls was planning to hold 74% stake while the rest was to be held by Mineral and Metal Trading Corporation (MMTC). Indiabulls commodity exchange is the fourth national exchange for commodities in India.
Other national commodity exchanges are Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX), National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) and National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE).
Commodity markets have remained buoyant despite the global economic downturn and crash in the stock markets. There are several players who are entering the commodity exchange space aggressively. Reliance Money last year entered into an agreement with NCME to pick up a 26% for Rs 100 crore. Kotak Mahindra Bank has aligned with Ahmedabad Stock Exchange, where its waiting for FMC's approval for its acquisition of majority stake in Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange.
Some Indian players are also expanding their global presence in the commodity space. Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL), the promoters of Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), has set up as many as 10 exchanges across Asia, Middle East and Africa. Another corporate is Anil Ambani's ADAG Group which has stake Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange and is negotiating to start an exchange in Nigeria.
