The world of investment has, so far, consisted of a variety of investment options such as stocks, bonds, fixed deposits, mutual funds, bullion and real estate. Now there is yet another avenue opened up for investors! The lifting of the 30-year ban on commodity futures trading in India in 2003 has opened up new vistas of investment opportunity for the Indian investors.

With the establishment of three National Commodity Exchanges in 2003, the Indian commodity derivatives market has undergone phenomenal growth. It clocks a daily average turnover of over Rs.15, 000 crore (Rs 150 billion). Indian commodity derivatives market has expanded by 50 times in a span of 5 years from Rs.66, 530 crore in 2003 to Rs.33, 75,336 crore in 2007, and is now poised to touch a volume of Rs.7, 415,613 crore in 2010, according to a joint finding of Assocham and Evalueserve.

Commodity markets across the world are experiencing exponential growth driven by a positive growth rate and a rebounding global economy. Suddenly, everyone, from the common investor to foreign institutional investors, is talking hot about commodities. In India as well commodity prices have seen a sharp upward movement due to an upsurge of demand. Several reasons make commodity trading attractive to investors. Commodity futures are a good low-risk portfolio diversifier. The sources of the diversification benefits are the ability of commodities to provide a hedge against inflation - stocks and bonds are poor hedges by comparison - and partially offset the cyclical variation in the returns of stocks and bonds. Secondly, commodities are a highly liquid asset class, acting as a counterweight to stocks, bonds and real estate. They are less volatile, compared with, equities and bonds.

All this interest in commodities by investors has come at a time when traders have begun to view commodity exchanges as vital disseminators of price information. More critically, producers, processors and end users are increasingly turning to exchanges as instruments for risk mitigation and price insurance. It is for this reason that an understanding of commodity markets has become vital for any business manager and finance professional. There is also a large and growing employment potential in this booming sector - as commodity dealers, research analysts, business managers, financial risk analysts, commodity traders, and portfolio managers.

Realizing the potential of the growing commodity markets and need for equipping the operators and participants with adequate knowledge on its functioning, NCDEX has set up the NCDEX Institute of Commodity Markets & Research (NICR) - an exclusive Education and Research Institute - with the basic objective of widening and improving the understanding of commodity markets.

NICR is engaged in extensive research on commodity markets and provides intelligence reports on market trends and related information for the benefit of the participants. This launch of the on line NCDEX Certificate Course on Commodity Derivatives is a major initiative taken by NICR to provide authoritative and the latest information required for understanding the functioning of commodity markets. The Certification has been approved by NCDEX and all successful learners would get entitled to work as commodity dealers on the NCDEX platform. This is a self-study course that is based on a blended design (online + print) and delivered over two segments: a basic course and an advanced course. This is the country's first and only E-learning programme in this sector. The programme is designed to be learner friendly. Our endeavor has been to help students not only to understand the subject but also successfully pass the final examination without much difficulty. Towards this, we have developed study guides in two parts supplemented with interactive and engaging E-learning material. Learners who have a background in finance or economics can complete the E- learning modules over 15 hours of intensive study, but it may take a longer time for other learners. In addition we have set up a learner's help desk where you can reach us with any query and obtain clarifications. This course is designed to impart knowledge to student learners, especially those in business schools, the teaching community, commodity market participants and the general public. The course will be specially useful to finance officers working in companies and other organizations dealing in commodities such as agricultural products, metals or oil, who would gain knowledge on trading and hedging strategies that would support their risk management policy. The course will also be found highly useful by students who wish to take up highly lucrative careers in brokerage firms dealing in commodities/derivatives.

NICR has joined hands with C&K Management Ltd., a pioneer in the field of E-learning and content development, as content partner and with Attest, the online testing arm of Aptech Limited, as examination partner.

Wish you all the best.

NICR Team