Potato futures fall over 2% as government puts stock holding limits

NEW DELHI: Potato futures traded 2.06 per cent lower at Rs 1,311 per quintal today after speculators trimmed positions as the government imposed stock holding limits in a bid to improve availability and rein in prices.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, potato for delivery in August plunged by Rs 27.60, or 2.06 per cent, to Rs 1,311 per quintal in a turnover of two lots.

Analysts said offloading of positions by speculators following the government's decision to impose stock holding limits on potato in a bid to improve availability and curb rising prices weighed on potato futures.

The government had yesterday decided to bring onion and potato under the purview of the stock holding limits under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

"With this, we are giving right to state governments to take stern action against hoarding and black marketing," Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said yesterday.