The Forum of Free Enterprise was a non-political organization founded in 1956 by A.D Shroff and was established to educate public opinion in India on free enterprise and a democratic way of life. The Forum published booklets to further its objects. The following booklet titled, “State Trading in a Democracy” was published on August 8, 1960. It contains the speeches that were delivered at a symposium organised by the Forum on the topic of state trading and its utility to the economy. Among these, Dr S G Panandikar’s speech discusses the harmful effects of the monopoly of the State Trading Corporation on the economy.  Dr K A Hamid discusses the stated objectives of the State Trading Company and examines whether they have gone beyond these objectives in their actions. M H Hasham Premji discusses how state trading in food grains will not only lead to rationing, but also complete government control of the food production process at every stage. B M Choksi reasons that involvement of the bureaucracy in foodgrain trading will not contribute to economic growth. R V Murthy goes a step further and characterizes the entry of state into trading as an economic tragedy.