India UK FTA, CERC’s Market Coupling Move, ED Heat On Anil Ambani— The Week That Was

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission approved a phased rollout of market coupling across India’s power exchanges, beginning with three months of pilot run. The change is aimed at improving market efficiency, but it reduces the commercial price discovery role of exchanges like IEX in determining prices.

The decision shifts price-setting responsibilities from individual exchanges to a central body, a development that may hurt Indian Energy Exchange, which currently handles the bulk of trade volumes and plays a key role in price discovery.

The Commission has asked the Grid Controller of India to start with pilot testing of three mechanisms: coupling the Real-Time Market (RTM) across all exchanges, coupling the RTM with Security Constrained Economic Dispatch, and coupling the Day-Ahead Market.

Day-Ahead Market coupling is scheduled to go live in January 2026, while coupling of Real Time Market and Term-Ahead Market will follow in stages.