'Spot market is an inherent part of the reform in the agriculture marketing but we are facing lot of challenges in popularising the spot market and we have long way to go,' he said.

Regarding the recent move by sugar processor Shree Renuka Sugars to acquire 5 percent stake in NCDEX, he said: 'As per the government norms, foreign enterprises cannot hold more than 5 percent in the exchange and that is the reason Goldman Sachs (7 percent) and IntercontinentalExchange (8 percent) have divested their stakes.'

Shree Renuka is acquiring the shares these two foreign firms divest.

The present shareholders of NCDEX are Life Insurance Corp, National Stock Exchange, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Crisil, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank.