New business linkages in India indicate growing enthusiasm for warehouse receipts

This week it was announced that the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai will take a 26% stake in the state-owned National Multi Commodities Exchange (NMCE) to counter the rapid growth of the Mumbai Commodity Exchange (MCX) and the Indian National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX). This development is interesting as it precedes the final enactment of the Indian warehouse receipts act which will transform farmer and supply chain financing in India. Basically, by doing this deal, NMCE will be able to tap into the electronic trading system of the BSE and use it as a basis for agricultural contracts or even to trade negotiable warehouse receipts when the Indian warehouse receipts act comes into force later this year. Another state body, the Central Warehousing Corporation of India (CWC), has a 26% stake in NMCE, which means the new shareholding group will have an excellent opportunity to add warehouse infrastructure to the NMCE offering. Put simply, NMCE seems to be providing the exchange function, BSE the technology and CWC the physical storage infrastructure.Let’s imagine we are a few months in the future and the tie-up is completed and the Indian warehouse receipts act has been passed. The idea could be that that you will be able to deliver goods into a CWC warehouse, who will issue an electronic warehouse receipt which can then be either traded on NMCE or used as security to raise finance with your bank.All of this good news for collateralised lending and structured trade finance (off-balance sheet lending) in India. Because a warehouse receipt can be used as collateral for the loan, it eases pressure on a trader’s balance sheet. This frees up more resources for the trader to use in other ways; i.e. it adds liquidity to the system.It has recently been reported in the Indian national press that CWC wants to leverage opportunities from its reach right across India. It wants to educate the farming community so it will understand how to use commodity risk management and warehouse receipts. Once the BSE-NMCE-CWC tie-up is complete, the new grouping will be able to provide a system which is comprehensive, which serves the needs of traders and producers alike and which will offer new financing opportunities for trading firms both domestically and internationally. For more information about the development of warehouse receipts globally, contact the author of this article, Daniel Day-Robinson, Day Robinson International (UK) +44 1392 271222 or ddr@dayrobinson.com.