Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will form a working group to examine technology glitches at stock exchanges, Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey
told ET NOW on Saturday, December 20. He explained that the regulator is looking deeper into the root cause of recent tech issues. A common assessment is being carried out across all exchanges. The working group is a forward-looking step and not a cautionary move. SEBI wants to ensure that outages do not occur as exchanges adopt more technology. Additionally, the market regulator is looking to encourage greater participation by institutional investors in non-agricultural commodity derivatives. Further, responding to a question on consultations with the government, Pandey said discussions are moving forward on allowing banks, insurers and pension funds to invest in non-agricultural commodity derivatives. He did not provide specific timelines. Pandey was in Delhi on Saturday, where he spoke at an event held by the Commodity Participants Association of India.
In his address, he said that equity and commodity derivatives, mutual funds, AIFs and other market segments have expanded significantly.
Commodity markets have been under SEBI’s oversight since 2015. A total of 104 commodities and their variants are approved for trading on recognised exchanges. Of these, 34 unique commodities are actively traded. This includes 23 agricultural and 11 non-agricultural commodities.
Annual notional turnover in commodities reached about Rs 580 trillion in the first 25 weeks of FY25. This is nearly double compared to the previous year. As of October 31, 2025, turnover has already crossed Rs 620 trillion.
Pandey said commodity prices may face downward pressure this year. Risks include a global slowdown, policy uncertainty and weak growth. Upside risks include geopolitics, sanctions, weather shocks and rising data-centre demand.
He said strong commodity derivative markets help manage price volatility. They also provide real-time price discovery. Prices on exchanges reflect collective market information, including global supply disruptions, geopolitics and weather changes.
SEBI has reviewed the nature and quantum of brokers' penalties. Twelve new penalties have been introduced, while 40 existing ones have been removed. Many minor violations are now treated as financial disincentives. These steps aim to improve ease of compliance and ease of doing business. Phase one of the reforms is complete, and phase two is underway.
Pandey said commodity markets will remain a key focus area for regulation and development. SEBI has set up working groups to strengthen agricultural commodity derivatives. These groups are reviewing margins, position limits, and delivery and settlement mechanisms. Any changes will be made after stakeholder consultation and without compromising market integrity. A separate working group for non-agricultural commodity derivatives will be set up soon.
He also spoke about regulated gold products, which are available through commodity derivatives, gold ETFs and electronic gold receipts. These products offer stronger investor protection. EGRs were introduced to create a regulated gold market and position India as a global gold price setter. However, adoption has been limited so far.
