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Informist, Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

 

By Shakshi Jain and Astha Oriel

 

NEW DELHI – Hindustan Power Exchange Ltd. Managing Director Harish Saran is bullish on the growth of power exchanges in India. He expects 50-60% of the short-term bilateral power trading market to shift to these exchanges in the next couple of years, he told Informist Friday on the sidelines of the India Electricity Summit.

 

"Ultimately... short-term market is shifting to the exchanges. Exchanges are going to grow," Saran said. The newest entrant in the Indian power exchange market currently holds 26-27% share in the term-ahead market, Saran, who has been a part of the power trading market for over 25 years, said. PTC India Ltd., BSE Investments Ltd., and ICICI Bank Ltd. are promoters of the power exchange, which is India's third licensed power exchange.

 

Hindustan Power Exchange also aims to enter the derivatives segment once business picks up meaningfully in the day-ahead market, where it has a negligible share currently. The delay in market coupling has been a setback for the exchange's ambitions for this segment. "It is not that we're not trying to do anything in day-ahead market," Saran said. "We should be able to do something in the time to come." 

 

The term-ahead market allows participants to buy or sell power on the exchanges on a term basis for up to 90 days. The day-ahead market enables the same for the next day, aiding grid stability and price discovery.

 

Hindustan Power Exchange will aim to bag a minimum 33% market share in the day-ahead market after market coupling, Saran had said in a conversation with CNBC-TV18 last year. Currently, its peer, Indian Energy Exchange, enjoys the lion's share of the day-ahead market in India.

 

Market coupling is an energy market mechanism that aggregates buy and sell bids from multiple power exchanges to determine a single, uniform market clearing price for electricity. It aims to increase efficiency, enhance price transparency, and reduce congestion.

 

"Coupling is bound to happen in this country because it is not any individual's decision. This decision has been taken by the government of India and this has already been outlined in the PMR 2021 (Power Market Regulations, 2021), it is only a matter of time," Saran said.

 

On traded power prices if the conflict in West Asia persists, Saran said prices will rise. "Gas will not be available, ultimately pressure will come on power... I cannot say how much (increase) because there is a cap, it cannot go above INR 10 (per unit)," he said, adding that the weather, however, is helping to contain the rise.   End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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