FOR India, the crash in global commodity prices comes as an answer to a prayer. Import of wheat, cooking oil and pulses are now likely to be cheaper as speculators and large funds exit positions in New York and Chicago over the last fortnight. The best part is that those who just joined the party and bought high have been scalded and probably won't be returning anytime soon. The liquidity crisis in the financial markets will also now ensure that the punters do not return soon enough. Commodity markets were the first to see a rush to the exit door after the equity market meltdown because of its highly liquid nature. Demand for margins and markto-market in equities forced the large punters to encash their positions and leave commodities virtually overnight. "The markets went into a free fall when hedge funds exited the market because they had artificially raised commodity prices. There was no support from the physical market for those prices. Once the futures prices see a correction and are better aligned to physical fundamentals, offtake in the markets will resume,' a market watcher said. However, the government is not leaving anything to chance. Rice exports have been further disincentivised by raising the minimum export price of non-basmati to $1,000 per tonne and removal of DEPB credit to non-basmati contracts. Export of edible oils have been banned to improve local supply. Options will be placed in Chicago for wheat import later in the year. Food prices have been spiralling out of control. There has been a 20% jump in domestic rice and tur prices in a year. Mustard oil has gone up by more than half while vanaspati