CHENNAI: National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) on Wednesday announced the launch of its agri index — Dhaanya.
Dhaanya aims to provide a reliable benchmark for the exchange traded agri-commodities in India. It is a value weighted index, based upon a simple, transparent and easy to understand methodology.
At a press meet in Mumbai, R Ramaseshan, MD & CEO, NCDEX, said, “Dhaanya symbolizes prosperity and a bountiful crop. The index is in many ways reflective of this and will serve as a reliable gauge of the Indian agri-futures market.” Dhaanya consists of 10 most liquid agri-futures contracts that contribute around 75 per cent of total agri-futures trading on the NCDEX platform.
To ensure proper diversification, index components are selected from various sub-sectors like oilseeds, grains, spices and other crops of national importance.
Dhaanya is computed using the prices of the near month (i.e. closest expiry) futures contracts.
It is a rolling index meaning that the futures contracts held in the index are rolled over to subsequent month as current month contracts approach expiration.
Vijay Kumar, Chief Business Officer, NCDEX said, “Dhaanya will provide a vital source of information to value-chain participants, market participants, economists, statisticians, research agencies and agri insurance providers.’’