What is the status of derivatives in the equity market in India?
As mentioned in Question 3.9, trading on the spot market for equity has actually always been a futures market with weekly or fortnightly settlement. These futures markets feature the risks and difficulties of futures markets, without the gains in price discovery and hedging services that come with a separation of the spot market from the futures market. Indias primary market has experience with derivatives of two kinds: convertible bonds and warrants (a slight variant of call options). Since these warrants are listed and traded, options markets of a limited sort already exist. However, the trading on these instruments is very limited. A variety of interesting derivatives markets exist in the informal sector. These markets trade contracts like bhav-bhav, teji-mandi, etc. For example, the bhav-bhav is a bundle of one in-the-money call option and one in-the-money put option. These informal markets stand outside the mainstream institutions of Indias financial system and enjoy limited parti
