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Back to the Future: Roots of Commodity Trade in India, A Study of Archaeological, Literary, and Inscriptional Sources (circa 7000 BCE to 1800 CE), Jignesh Shah and Biswajeet Rath, Takshashila Academia of Economic Research, Mumbai, 2009. Pp. 143. Rs. 999.00.
Commodity futures trading with an annual turnover of Rs. 70. 90 lakh crore in 2009 is a major component of the markets in neo-liberalised India in the first decade of the 21st century. Revival of this trade after keeping it sidelined and in limbo for a better part of the mid-20th century has formed an integral part of the ideology of completing the neo-liberalisation of the Indian economy. It is a part of the commitment of the present day Indian political dispensation that is often expressed in so many words. In simple terms, futures trade is supposed to be a step towards the completion of the marketisation process. That this revival seems to have been entirely to the liking of a segment of the Indian economy is visible in the big way the futures markets have expanded, both in terms of the number of commodities and their turnover over the last six to seven years. These traits underline the prominent place and growing niche of the futures and derivatives trade in the fast changing shape, size and structure of the India economy. True, this change is a result of deliberate state initiative and forms a part of the process of completing the process of marketisation of the Indian economy on par with the rich, mainly Western market economies.
However, it apparently also had a good deal of latent demand as the practice of formal and informal (kerb) forward trading has remained a well established tradition with both its positive and negative features. It is this demand that fructified in 2003 leading to the permission for exchange-based futures and derivatives trade in a wide range of products going beyond physical commodities. Thus it is clear that its rapid growth during the first decade of the present century sits well with the emerging balance of forces in the fast globalising and financialising Indian economy just as it may be considered an outcome of the shift of the policy preferences towards favouring activities considered contributory to wealth creation...