By Thomas Kutty Abraham Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- India may resume futures trading in natural rubber, soybean oil, potatoes and chickpeas after the government allowed a seven-month old ban to lapse, according to the commodities market regulator. “The ban is deemed to have lapsed as there was no notification extending it,” B.C. Khatua, chairman of the Forward Markets Commission, said in a phone interview in Mumbai. The ban was in force until yesterday, he said. India, the world’s biggest buyer of edible oils after China, in May banned trading in the commodities and extended the curbs in September by three months to cool inflation. The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. and the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd., India’s biggest resources bourses, can start trading in the four commodities after securing the regulator’s approvals for new contracts. “It may take exchanges three to four days for approvals” after submitting new contracts, Khatua said. The regulator hadn’t received any communication from the federal ministry of consumer affairs, which oversees the Forward Markets Commission, seeking an extension of the curbs. Commodities worth 30 trillion rupees ($597 billion) were traded on India’s exchanges between April and October, compared with 20.9 trillion rupees a year ago, according to the regulator. To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Kutty Abraham in Mumbai at tabraham4@bloomberg.net.

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