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The Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) has proposed launching weekly index options for its bullion derivative index, the MCX Bulldex, according to two people familiar with the matter. The proposal is currently in the early stages of discussion within a regulatory committee, they added.
"The matter is being discussed in the commodity derivatives advisory committee (CDAC) of Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) but no decision has been taken yet. Weekly options pose a risk in commodities and may hurt retail investors, so this will be discussed thoroughly,” said the first person cited above.
“MCX has to ensure that the weekly index options do not just bring in temporary volume to the exchange but have both breadth and depth in terms of multiple commodities being spread out over several months while having adequate liquidity in the market,” he added.
The discussions are still in the preliminary stages and the committee is nowhere near a final decision.
The MCX Bulldex is based on the MCX iComdex Bullion Index, which tracks the prices of gold and silver. The Bulldex is settled in cash and involves no physical delivery, unlike the standalone gold and silver derivatives, which require physical delivery.
The second person said, "A very early stage discussion is under way on this as such a contract will draw volumes which are currently absent on the monthly MCX Bulldex futures and options contracts.”
Both sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, given the highly sensitive nature of the matter. Emails sent to MCX and Sebi on Wednesday went unanswered.
Commodity derivative indices are currently illiquid, in contrast to their equity counterparts like the Nifty and Sensex, where highly popular weekly options launched by the NSE and BSE attract significant market participation. However, Sebi has tightened trading in equity derivatives since November 2024, following massive losses among retail investors.
The measures include restricting each exchange to just one weekly contract from multiple earlier, tripled contract sizes, and imposing strict position limits in phases, among others. This followed a September 2024 Sebi study that found 11.3 million individual traders lost a massive ₹1.81 trillion from trading futures and options over FY22-24. Another study in July 2025 found that retail investors’ losses surged 41% to ₹1.06 trillion in FY25 from ₹74,812 crore in FY24.
However, more recent data showed Sebi’s regulatory measures appear to be bearing fruit. The combined premium turnover growth of NSE and BSE index options slowed to 9.3% year-on-year in FY26 from 10.5% in the preceding fiscal, according to data from the exchanges.
However, a former regulatory official said receiving permission for weekly commodity index options will be a "tough ask", given the losses investors have suffered in weekly equity variants.
The first person cited above echoed this, saying, “Though the matter is in early discussion stage and may go through, CDAC members are not very enthusiastic about it due to what Sebi observed with weekly options in equities and the losses made by retail investors.”
MCX, which started operations in November 2003, runs India's largest commodity derivatives segment with a market share of more than 99%. MCX shares closed 0.29% higher at ₹2791.4 on the NSE on Thursday, having vastly outperformed the Nifty Midcap 50 index – of which it is a constituent – over the past year. The stock has generated an absolute return of 127.52% over this period against the index's mere 8.98% gain.
Ram Sahgal is a deputy editor at Mint. He has over 20 years of experience in journalism, with previous roles at The Intelligent Investor, Bombay Times, The Economic Times, and The New Indian Express. Between his media roles, he briefly worked at a commodities exchange before returning to his true passion, business journalism. Ram graduated in liberal arts from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, where he studied films, which explains his move to Bombay Times, where he covered the film industry during the rise of Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt. He took a leap of faith to transfer to The Economic Times, and thanks to his restless mind, later moved to cover the commodities beat. Over the past three years, Ram has been tracking the stock markets at Mint. His focus areas include writing about market infrastructure institutions, brokerages, derivatives, and related regulations. His hobbies include spotting trains and understanding the locomotives that power them. In his free time, he takes his octogenarian mother out for drives and goes to the cinema with her on weekends. If he has a dream, it is to write a screenplay for a movie. For now, he enjoys viewing market data on NSE and BSE, observing the shifting mood of Mr Market, and conversing with market experts.
Apoorva is a Mumbai-based journalist at Mint who covers the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), tracking the pulse of India’s capital markets, regulatory developments and the people who operate within them. She holds a postgraduate diploma in business and financial journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, where she developed a strong foundation in markets, companies, and economic policy. She began her journalism journey with an internship at Bloomberg, where she worked across beats such as real estate, infrastructure, capital markets, and deals, which helped her understanding of business and finance.She is guided by the belief that everything in this world can be explained in simple and fewer words, and that idea shapes how she approaches her writing. She aims to cut through complexity and present nuanced regulatory and financial developments in a way that is both accessible and meaningful to readers.When she is not tracking market chatter, Apoorva can usually be found deep into a fiction novel or out on a long run. She is also a trained classical dancer in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, and Kathakali.
Agnidev is a business journalist with over two years of reporting experience tracking the intersection of capital, policy, and corporate strategy in India.He joined Mint in December 2025, after a stint at NDTV Profit (erstwhile BQ Prime). At Mint, Agnidev focuses on the high-stakes world of the Indian capital market, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, burgeoning IPOs, and the investment banking industry.Backed by a rigorous, data-driven approach, Agnidev frequently breaks news on the valuation cycles, deal pipelines and listing strategies of India’s most prominent companies. His reportage offers deep dives into the operational health of market leaders across the corporate landscape, providing readers with a clear-eyed view of institutional growth.He has reported on major issues like India's derivatives frenzy, IPO froth, the competitive quick commerce industry, the real-money gaming ban, and has broken investigative stories related to scandals such as IndusInd Bank's accounting manipulation and the Gensol-BluSmart fiasco.As a reporter, he brings stories that ultimately affect your stock market investments, and tries to bring clarity and brevity in a field that is often filled with jargon and noise.