Till some years ago, investors in India had limited investment opportunities. These were limited to stocks, bonds, fixed deposits, mutual funds, bullion and real estate. With the lifting of the 30-year ban on commodity futures trading in 2003, a new investment opportunity is now available to investors. The icing on the cake came from the establishment of three National Commodity Exchanges in the same year! As a result, the Indian commodity derivatives market has undergone phenomenal growth. It clocks a daily average turnover of over Rs. 15,000 crore (Rs. 150 billion). In a short span of five years, the Indian commodity derivatives market has expanded by 50 times, from Rs. 66,530 crore in 2003 to Rs. 33,75,336 crore in 2007! The market is poised to touch a volume of Rs. 7,415,613 crore in 2010, according to a joint finding of ASSOCHAM and Evalueserve.