NEW DELHI: Financial markets the world over turned volatile as Britons headed to the poll booths to decide whether they want to stay with the European Union or exit it.The Brexit referendum, touted as the biggest geopolitical event of the year, may have ramifications way beyond just the UK leaving the EU. Some say it may lead to the end of the EU itself. This has created a fertile ground for fear mongering on Dalal Street with stock indices going wobbly.But there is at least one solid reason why we – from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan and you, dear reader – should hope that Brexit does become a reality: it can guarantee lower commodity and crude prices for a longer duration.After the crash of 2015, commodities have already entered the bull market on the back of a weakness in the dollar, stabilisation in the Chinese economy and demand revival. Oil prices are up close to 80 per cent since they hit their 13-year lows earlier this year.This has ended India’s honeymoon with low inflation, with consumer price inflation showing a spike for two consecutive months. CPI inflation for May stood at 5.76 per cent, thanks to a surge in food prices at home and internationally and prices of farm products swelled. That has curtailed the Reserve Bank of India’s ability to continue with the downward spiral in policy rates to spur investment and growth.Retail petrol prices have risen by Rs 4.97 a litre after the June 15 hike, while diesel prices are up by Rs 7.72, taking both of them to their highest levels in a year, hurting pockets of consumers.“Looking at it from India’s perspective, a Brexit would weaken global growth and lead to a meaningful decline in commodity prices. This is only going to enhance both the relative and absolute appeal of India,” says Bharat Iyer of JP Morgan India.This will be music to the ears of Prime Minister Modi and RBI Governor Rajan, both of whom have been constrained by the sharp rally seen in commodity prices in recent times the world over.The recent spike in fuel prices is making Modi’s voter base disgruntled ahead of key election in India’s biggest state Uttar Pradesh. Most crucially, it also threatens to slice away a good chunk from the government’s revenue as higher fuel prices will force it to reverse the excise duty hike that it had effected in low crude price days.A rise in commodity prices was sighted as one of the major reasons by RBI’s Rajan to hold off further rate cuts in June. A rather cautious stance on the rate front as made the RBI Governor unpopular with the political class, and a bitter diatribe from some of the ruling party members was cited as one of the reasons that forced the celebrated central bank head to avoid a second term despite popular demand to continue in office.At the June policy review, the RBI Governor had cited “firming of international commodity prices, particularly that of crude oil” as among the top upside risks to inflation in India.Iyer believes should Britain decide to exit the EU, a risk-off event may ultimately help India stand tall when the dust settles.“You will have lower commodity prices that will help the macro fundamentals: be it fiscal deficit, current account deficit or inflation, which will give the government more levers to pump up the investment cycle,” he said.That said, the domestic equity market will still take a major hit in case of a Brexit, but even that could be a temporary blip on India’s long-term rosy picture.“Should it happen, we will be looking at very ugly remainder of June and a troublesome July,” warned Shankar Sharma , VC and Joint MD, First Global.It will also hurt revenues of a number of companies, including India’s flagship the Tata Group , which have huge business interest in Britain and in Europe through Britain.Plus, the turmoil that a Brexit vote can cause in the currency markets is expected to take a huge toll on the rupee, damaging export businesses and causing some of the overseas investors to pull out. That would require RBI to go on a firefighting mode to control the damage.“Globally, you could look at a 10 per cent correction. Within that, somebody will do 15, somebody will do 5. But we should look at the average,” he said.Going by the positioning of traders in futures and options contracts of indices and stocks in the domestic market, Dalal Street is not expecting the Nifty index to slip below the 8,000 mark in the case of an adverse vote.