New Delhi, March 16 -- Over the past two and a half decades, India's capital markets have undergone multiple transformations-regulatory reforms, financial crises, technological shifts, and structural transitions.

One of the most defining changes came in the early 2000s with the introduction of derivatives, when the F&O framework replaced the traditional Vyaj Badla mechanism.

The early years were anything but explosive. Futures developed gradually, but options remained shallow. Liquidity was limited to a handful of ATM (at-the-money) contracts.

For nearly a decade, the policy debate was not about excess but absence. Why could India not build a vibrant derivatives ecosystem comparable to developed markets? Why was market depth limited? W...