IEX share price: On Thursday, July 24, shares of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) were trading freely. When the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) announced on Wednesday that it had chosen to start introducing market coupling for electricity trading in a phased manner starting in January 2026, the stock fell 20% to ₹150.30 in the morning deals.
In energy markets, market coupling is an economic concept that establishes a single, consistent price for power across several exchanges or trading platforms.
The goal of the regulator’s action is to increase system efficiency and price discovery. In an order, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) said that a standard technology will be used to link the day-ahead market section of all power exchanges.
CERC’s earlier remarks regarding market coupling
The Indian power sector is undergoing a radical transition from a primarily fossil fuel-based system to one that is increasingly focused on renewable energy sources, according to a draft on market coupling in 2023 from CERC. This shift calls for changes in the regulations, markets, and electrical system design.
The CERC has created a set of laws in recognition of this necessity, particularly to meet the goal of 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. Since the Ministry of Power (MoP) instructed CERC to start the market coupling process across several electricity exchanges, one of the main areas of focus has been on a market-based mechanism to ease the entry of renewables, which includes, among other things, “Power Market Coupling” to improve liquidity in the wholesale spot market.
In order to overcome many of the drawbacks of a fragmented market that presently has only 7% liquidity, multiple segments, a very low price cap, and aggressive supply-side bidding in response to unmet demand, coupling offers a special chance to create a larger connected, liquid, and efficient marketplace.
Effect on IEX
Since the Indian Energy Exchange is now the most well-known venue for electricity spot price discovery in the nation, the adoption of a market coupling model may lessen the IEX’s dominance in price discovery and have an impact on its market share.
It is also anticipated that the new shift will negatively impact IEX’s income.
Power exchanges will alternately serve as the market coupling operator under the new framework. Grid-India will act as both an auditing and backup operator.
CERC said the following.
• By January 2026, the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) will switch to a round-robin market-coupling mechanism.
• After pilot studies and consultations, the Real-Time Market (RTM) and Term-Ahead Market (TAM) will be combined.
According to the regulator, all electricity exchanges have been instructed to share data with the CERC and Grid-India in order to facilitate the deployment.
The CERC stated that it will issue more orders in accordance with the implementation’s progress.
Nevertheless, other power exchanges will also function as market couplers if market coupling is implemented.
About IEX
IEX is India’s leading power exchange, providing a nationwide automated trading platform for the physical delivery of electricity, renewable energy, and certificates. IEX additionally introduced cross-border electricity trade to expand our market reach beyond India.
The IEX ecosystem comprises more than 8,100 stakeholders located across 28 states and 8 union territories.