The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange(NCDEX) on Tuesday said it will relaunch futures contract of natural whitish sesame seeds (til) on Wednesday. The til futures contract would be made available for trading from August 26, with Unjha (Gujarat) as the basis centre and Rajkot (Gujarat) as the additional delivery centre, adding one more product to the exchange’s oil seeds portfolio, NCDEX said in a statement.

The futures contracts for til will be available for the expiry months of October, November and December 2020, it added.

“We have always strived to introduce new business opportunities for farmers and value chain participants (VCPs). India is a major exporter of sesame seeds and holds huge potential in this space.

“The launch of this contract will provide an appropriate intervention to increasing the productivity of sesame seeds to boost farm profitability and widen the country’s export basket. The diversification of the oil seeds contracts will enable VCPs to foray into an additional asset for trading,” NCDEX MD and CEO Vijay Kumar said.

India is the third largest producer of sesame seeds and as per FAOSTAT (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), India enjoys a global share of 12 per cent of the sesame seeds trade.

So absence of sesame seeds futures contracts globally would expose VCPs to the uncertainties in the commodity trade, the statement said.