By Madelene Pearson and Thomas Kutty Abraham Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Turnover on commodity exchanges in India, the world’s biggest gold consumer, may rise 43 percent to a record this year on higher prices and volumes, the industry regulator said. The value of commodities traded on India’s 22 exchanges may reach 75 trillion rupees ($1.63 trillion) in the year ending March 31, B.C. Khatua, chairman of the Forward Markets Commission, said in an interview in Mumbai. That’s up from 52.5 trillion a year earlier and compares with Khatua’s June estimate for a gain of more than 20 percent. The forecast surge comes even as overseas investors are prohibited from buying and selling commodity futures in India. The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd., the world’s third- biggest bullion bourse, and local rivals such as the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd., are mainly used by domestic traders, producers and consuming companies. “Given the limitations on the international players, and the corporates are not there in a big way, the growth has been pretty satisfactory,” Khatua said yesterday at the commission’s headquarters. “In the current year the growth is somewhere around 45-50 percent. That’s pretty good.” New York gold futures reached a record $1,227.50 an ounce on Dec. 3 and have gained 19 percent since March 31. Silver jumped 34 percent and crude oil is up 53 percent in the period. “The markets have become a little more volatile than last year,” Khatua said. “In a more volatile market it tends to generate more volumes.” Turnover on India’s commodity exchanges jumped 50 percent to $1.2 trillion in the nine months ended Dec. 31, the commission said on Jan. 11. Contracts worth 3.52 trillion rupees traded on the bourses in the two weeks ended Dec. 31, double the 1.76 trillion rupees a year earlier, it said. To contact the reporters on this story: Madelene Pearson in Mumbai on mpearson1@bloomberg.net; Thomas Kutty Abraham in Mumbai at tabraham4@bloomberg.net

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