NEW DELHI : After Anil Ambani group and Indiabulls, financial services major Kotak group is set to become the third leading corporate house to enter commodity bourse arena with plans for a majority stake in Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange. 

The regional stock exchange has sought clearance from the commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission for selling a majority stake to the Kotak group, sources said. 

The Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange, which deals in castor seeds futures, has an average daily trading volume of about 5,000 tons, exchange officials said. 

However, Kotak group’s plans would depend to a large extent on the release of FMC guidelines for the regional exchanges. 

“We are waiting for the guidelines from FMC and accordingly Kotak group will buy the stakes,” an exchange official said. 

Though Kotak is seeking to buy 51 per cent stake in the exchange, it is ready to go for a smaller equity if FMC fixes a lower cap on the promoter holding. In its guidelines for national-level exchanges, FMC recently fixed a maximum limit of 40 per cent for stake to be held by a promoter. 

The Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange has 212 members and the shares in the company will be distributed among them after the guidelines for regional exchanges come out, officials said. 

Sources said Kotak has plans to convert the regional exchange to a national one after getting approval of the market regulator. 

Kotak group officials could not be contacted.