Leading agri-commodity bourse NCDEX on Wednesday said it will launch the country's first agri-futures index, NCDEX AGRIDEX, on May 26.

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The exchange, in a statement, said it has begun the mock trading in agri-index futures contracts, which will go live on May 26.

Initially, the exchange will offer futures contracts that would expire in the months of June, July, September and December, it said.

According to the NCDEX, the AGRIDEX represents a basket of ten liquid agricultural commodities on the NCDEX and will serve as a broad benchmark for India's strong agricultural sector.

AGRIDEX is a return-based index with commodity wise and sector wise floors and caps, with no single commodity or sector dominating the index, it said.

It provides a diversified cash-settled instrument for investors seeking portfolio diversification and will serve the needs of both institutional and retail participants.

The rollover will be done on the first three days of the expiry month and the Index would be rebalanced annually on the first business day of April, it added.

Commenting on the initiative, NCDEX Managing Director and CEO Vijay Kumar said the exchange has always played an important role in providing risk management tools for the Indian agricultural value chain.

"The introduction of AGRIDEX Futures is another important step in the same direction. AGRIDEX Futures contracts will provide investors with one more tool for trading and risk management at a composite level," he said.

"Since AGRIDEX futures contracts provide a diversified cash-settled instrument, it will help in widening participation on the exchange from both institutional and retail investors," NCDEX Business Head Kapil Dev said.

NCDEX has partnered with NSE Indices, a leading Index service provider, to maintain and disseminate real-time NCDEX AGRIDEX values.