Synopsis
Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) suffered a dramatic stock plunge after regulators approved “market coupling” for electricity trading. This move consolidates bids from multiple power exchanges into a single clearing algorithm, aiming to align price discovery with the physical constraints of the grid. IEX, long dominant in the spot power trade, risks losing its key advantage: Liquidity-driven price discovery. While coupling promises efficiency and fairness, it threatens IEX’s dominance unless it pivots to value-added services. Or risk being disrupted by the very system it once dominated. So, if you think market coupling is a practice which only India has implemented, the answer is no. It is just the start, not the end.
On the morning of 24 July, 2025,the stock of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) fell through the floor. By the end of day it registered its worst single‑day collapse since listing. The trigger was not a bad quarter or a fraud. It was a three-word regulatory decision: Market coupling approved. For most investors, “market coupling” was an esoteric term. But for the engineers and economists who run India’s grid and power markets, it was the
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