CommodityIndia director RS Karnani told The Financial Express that the portal was looking at becoming a complete B2B and transaction site for virtual trading of commodities.

On the new commodities, four new agro products -- food grains, cereals, pulses and spices were expected to be added to the list in a months time, Karnani said. Modalities are also being worked out for introducing sections for non-agricultural products including ferrous, non-ferrous, chemicals, bullion and pharma.

The portal currently has information on close to 17 different agriculture commodities under three main sections -- plantation (coffee, tea, sugar and pepper), fiber (jute, cotton) and oil seeds (11 varieties). ``The portal currently offers information, product specific prices (spot, future, auction and international rates), market analysis, graphical representations, supply-chain information, a news letter subscription and a passive auction site where one can currently float tenders,'' he said. The personalisation feature available also offered the choice of specific information and data-mining commodity wise, he added.

On the dynamic auction services, Karnani said that the aim was to make commoditiyIndia a transaction and facilitating site for trade and live commodity auction in three months time. ``Forward trading is permitted out of the exchange for select commodities. We plan to work within these lines by tying up with traders both domestic and overseas to post their requirements online,'' he said. The strategy was to provide both a platform and help to the domestic industry offering a good price mechanism and overseas exposure at zero cost, he said. Modalities for providing a payment gateway online was being worked out, he added.The company is also looking at tying up with close to 10 `big league' overseas traders to port their requirements on commodityIndia for domestic or international sourcing.

Tie-ups with four traders primarily in the US for sourcing of pepper, tea, soya and palm oil are expected to be completed by April 2000, Karnani said. ``We are also looking at associations in Singapore, Hong Kong and UAE to tap the trading potential,'' he added. Logistics to offer advance finance and warehousing facilities to traders against purchase are also being looked into. As for registered members, the portal currently has around 500 members and was looking at around 15,000 members within the next four months. The company is targeting a turnover of close to Rs 45 crore in two years of operation. ``All services are currently free of charge. Once the auction services are in place, we are looking at charging a small percentage on each trade. Membership charges (Rs 3,000-4,000 per year) is also expected to add to the revenues,'' he said.