IEX zooms over 2 per cent on commencing cross border electricity trade

Indian Energy Exchange Limited, the country’s premier energy exchange, announced this afternoon about the commencement of the cross-border electricity trade (CBET) on its platform.  

This is a novel initiative for the Exchanges to expand their power markets beyond India to the South Asia region. This step has been taken towards building an integrated South Asian regional power market.  

NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN) has secured approval from Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for Nepal’s participation in the day-ahead market on the Exchange. This is a significant development, following the notification of CBET Regulations by CERC in the year 2019 and the latest notification of CBET rules in March 2021 by CEA.  

At present, the cross-border trade with the neighbouring countries for India stands at about 18 billing units (BU) conducted via medium to long-term bilateral contracts. As per CEA & CERC, India imports 8.7 BU from Bhutan and exports 2.37 BU and 7 BU to Nepal and Bangladesh, respectively. According to a study by Integrated Research & Action for Development (IRADe), the power trade with these countries is expected to rise to about 40 BU by FY22 and 70 BU by FY27.   

At the time of market closing, the share price of Indian Energy Exchange Ltd was trading at Rs 351.95 on BSE, which was an increase of 2.03 per cent on BSE.