Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today launched gold options trading on the leading commodity bourse MCX and said this is one of the steps towards formalising trade in the yellow metal.<br/><br/>Options are derivatives which give a buyer the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specific price on or before a certain date.<br/><br/>He said, Indians are great buyers of gold, adding that this new product will be extremely successful.<br/><br/>Emphasising that the government is taking efforts to formalise gold trade, Jaitley said, that's in consonance with the business environment for future that we see for us.<br/><br/>This is the first product for options trading that the regulator Sebi has allowed after 14 years of commencement of commodity exchanges in the country, he added.<br/><br/>The gold options contract launched today allows trading in 1kg gold.<br/><br/>Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, Economic Advisor to PM Bibek Debroy, MCX Chairman Saurabh Chandra and MCX Managing Director and CEO Mrugank Paranjape were present at the event.<br/><br/>MCX is the leading commodity bourse in the country with a market share of over 90 per cent. It has a large presence in gold, base metals, and energy.