Efficient Indian Commodity Markets – Need for Comprehensive Warehousing System

Warehouses are closely linked to commodity futures exchanges and form an important component in the process of price formation of commodities. Warehouses issue warehouse receipts to farmers, the warehouse guarantees the farmer the delivery of the goods stored in the premises of the warehouse while the warehouse receipts can be pledged in transactions which are financial in nature in order to generate loans for the financing of cost of storage. The current study tries to assess the nature of storage facilities of commodities in a few major countries as well as prominent global commodity exchanges to explore the status of warehousing and the future requirement of storage facilities in India with special reference to grain warehousing, since warehousing is necessary for agricultural commodities which are perishable in nature. As futures markets for commodities grow in their importance, there is a need for augmenting and strengthening the warehousing and delivery system in order to make the Indian commodity market more efficient. The paper also reviews the experience of warehouse receipt financing in developed and developing countries.