NCDEX is now set to launch Agri Commodity Futures Index....Dhaanya aims to provide a reliable benchmark for the traded Agri-commodities in India. Dhaanya is based on a simple, transparent and easy to understand methodology and it consists of ten liquid Agri- Unlike individual futures contracts, commodity futures contract traded on Dhaanya is a continuous series enabling t h e N C D E X ' s p l a t f o r m . Aniruddha Yadav

1. ll Ì㶪ñ ½ããú ‚ã¸ã¹ãî¥ããýãá ªìŒãÖããäÀ¥ããè½ãá ÔãìŒã‡ãŠããäÀ¥ããè½ãá £ã¶ã£ã㶾ã¹ãƪããä¾ã¶ããè½ãá II
II ‚ã¸ãªããä¾ã¶ããè½ãá ¶ã½ãÔ¦ãÔ¾ãõ Ôã½ãð® ‡ãìŠÁ ½ã½ãá ¼ããÀ¦ã½ãá Ôãªã ll
Praise you O Mother Annapurna (Goddess of Agriculture, Food and Prosperity);
one who protects us from grief and imparts happiness; the giver of wealth & prosperity
The provider of food and nutrition; I pray and request you to bless my India with prosperity forever

2. धान्या/Dhaanya is a Sanskrit* word that represents a state of plenty, a bountiful crop,
abundance of food grains, and prosperity. “Dhaanya” highlights the importance of
agriculture in India and represents eleven thousand years of Indian civilization and its re-
emergance in the modern world.
The history of agriculture in India dates back to 9000 B.C. Cultivation of wheat, Jujube and
Barley along with the domestication of cattle started during this period. Since the beginning
of history, agriculture has influenced the life and culture of India. The events and occasions
considered important to agriculture came to be worshipped and celebrated. Agriculture,
thus, represents the culture, civilization and history of India and its people.
Several festivals are celebrated in various parts of India to welcome the monsoon and the
harvest.
¬ Holi: festival of colors, is celebrated ¬ Onam: is a ten day long festival
mainly in northern part of India in late celebrated in Kerala in August to
February or early March. celebrate the harvest of the Paddy crop.
¬ Lohri: also known as the harvest festival ¬ Pongal: symbolizes the veneration of
of Punjab, it is celebrated in the month the first harvest and is celebrated in
of January to welcome the arrival of Tamil Nadu in the month of January.
Rabi Crops
¬ Vasant Panchami: is celebration of
¬ Bhogali Bihu: is the harvest festival onset of spring and ripening of crops in
celebrated in Assam which marks the the western parts of India in the month
end of harvesting season in mid-January. of January- February.
Today, India ranks second in farm output and agriculture accounts for around one third of
its GDP and employs 52% of the total workforce. Agriculture is still the largest and most
vital economic sector which plays a significant role in the overall economic development
and prosperity of India.
* Sanskrit: Is an ancient Indian language and is the parent of several European, Indian and Asian languages. Sanskrit is
also the first written language of the world.

3. Dhaanya
Dhaanya aims to provide a reliable benchmark for the traded Agri-commodities in India.
Dhaanya is based on a simple, transparent and easy to understand methodology. The index
features are highlighted below:
¶ Components: ¶ Continuity:
Dhaanya consists of ten liquid Agri- Unlike individual futures contracts,
commodity futures contract traded on Dhaanya is a continuous series enabling
the NCDEX's platform. The the market to better understand the
commodities are selected based on price action and trend over a longer
their economic significance and period time. Dhaanya is a rolling index,
liquidity. that is, periodically futures contract
held in the index are rolled over onto
¶ Diversified Basket: next near month contracts as current
Commodities from various sub-sectors month contracts approach expiration.
are selected to ensure adequate
diversification. Dhaanya components ¶ Index Maintenance:
account for over 75% of the agri- Dhaanya is a professionally maintained
trading activity on NCDEX platform. index. Index maintenance committee is
responsible for monitoring the issues
¶ Value weighted: related to day-to-day operations of the
Dhaanya is a value weighted index. index. Dhaanya components and their
Weights are assigned to each weights are re-balanced every three
component based on national months based on the production values
production and the traded value. Equal and the liquidity situation prevailing in
importance [50%-50%] is given to the the market place.
both of the parameters to calculate the
final weights of index components.
¶ Reliable prices:
The index is computed real-time, using
the prices of the near month traded
futures contract.

4. Index components
Oil Seeds Grains/Pulses Spices Others
Soy Bean Wheat Turmeric Guar Seed
Mustard Seed Chana Pepper Gur
Cotton Seed Cake Jeera
Figure 1 : Sub-Sectors and components of Dhaanya
Cotton
cake, 2.56%
Chana, 12.78%
Guar, 16.91% Pepper, 4.69%
Gur, 3.34%
Soy Bean, 10.23%
Wheat, 27.63%
Turmeric, 6.88%
RM Seed, 11.09% Jeera, 3.86%
1
Figure 2: Dhanyaa Component weightings
1
The graph represents the present composition only.
2
Index Performance
1 year -9.65 %
Annualized returns
2 year 19.34 %
1 Yr Std Dev 11.46 %
Annualized risk
2 Yr Std Dev 13.29 %
2009 47.25 %
Yearly Return
2010 -7.29 %
Table 1: Dhaanya Performance
3
Figure 3: Dhaanya Historical chart
2
Till October 2010; based on back calculated values
3
Chart based on back calculated values