IEX Enters into Strategic Partnership with NSE & ONGC to Build Gas Markets

The Indian Energy Exchange, India's premier Energy Exchange, has announced strategic divestment of 26% of its equity holding in the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) to National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) through its wholly owned subsidiary NSE Investments Ltd and additional 5% equity holding to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited - a Maharatna Central Public Sector Undertaking. The representatives of IEX, NSE and ONGC signed agreements to this effect in the august presence of Honourable Shri Tarun Kapoor, Secretary at a signing ceremony held today at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas premises. IGX has the distinction and pride of being India's first gas exchange after it secured authorisation from Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) on 02 December 2020.

Speaking on the development, Shri Tarun Kapoor, Secretary, MOPNG said, "the Government of India is committed to build a sustainable energy economy wherein clean energy sources such as gas have a key role to play. We are working collaboratively with key stakeholders in the value chain to create an enabling policy framework that supports development of gas markets in the country. The Indian Gas Exchange, working in collaboration with strong leaders from both the public as well as private sector, has a pioneering role in developing a vibrant gas market in the country."

Speaking on the occasion, Shri S N Goel, Chairman and Managing Director, IEX and Director, IGX said, "Having NSE and ONGC as our partners is a natural choice for us in our endeavour to deepen India's gas markets. We are enthused and delighted about the new partnerships. Both NSE and ONGC bring their unique value proposition and leadership edge in markets and hydrocarbon sector respectively to the table. We look forward to working jointly with our new partners in developing gas markets which offer immense scope of growth".

According to Shri Vikram Limaye, MD & CEO, NSE "the Government of India has an unwavering commitment to increase the consumption of gas and build India as a gas-based economy. The collaboration between NSE, IEX and other strong public and private sector leaders to strengthen IGX will go a long way in accelerating the development of the gas markets. IGX will provide a vibrant gas market platform for accelerating gas consumption in the country thereby helping towards achieving national sustainable energy aspirations."

Speaking on the occasion to Shri Shashi Shanker, Chairman and Managing Director, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited said, "ONGC is aligned to the government's vision of increasing the share of gas in the energy mix presently at 6% to 15% by 2030. We believe that the gas markets are key to facilitating the efficient and competitive gas trade in India. We are pleased to be part of the Indian Gas Exchange and look forward to developing the gas markets in the country through joint and synchronised efforts in the coming years."

Earlier this year, IEX announced the strategic investments of 5% each by leading players in the gas value chain - Adani Total Gas, Torrent Gas and GAIL (India) Ltd in IGX. The Indian Gas Exchange is a subsidiary of the IEX - India's premier nationwide, automated electricity trading platform powered by intuitive and state-of-the-art technology. IEX was incepted in the year 2008 and operates under the regulatory supervision of the Honourable CERC. It has a robust eco-system of 6500+ market participants which includes all the distribution utilities in the country, the major power generators as well as 4500+ open access consumers. IEX offers trade in electricity through its various market segments such as real-time, day-ahead as well as term ahead markets. Recently, the Exchange also commenced trading in renewable energy at its platform. The electricity price discovered by IEX serve as the most competitive benchmark for the power value chain. Owing to this, the distribution utilities as well as open access consumers have been successfully leveraging the Exchange to optimize their power procurement portfolio to rationalize their operational costs. The Exchange is listed on both NSE and BSE since October 2017.

The India Gas Exchange currently offers trade in five contracts, including Daily, Weekly, Weekday, Fortnightly and Monthly, at three physical hubs - Hazira and Dahej in Gujarat and KG Basin in Andhra Pradesh. The Exchange has built a very robust ecosystem with over 500 registered clients and 15 members and has cumulatively traded 100,000 MMBTU volume of gas already.

Shares of Indian Energy Exchange Ltd was last trading in BSE at Rs.301.65 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 306.85. The total number of shares traded during the day was 132146 in over 1817 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 315 and intraday low of 299.45. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 40402770.

Source : Equity Bulls

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