Jignesh Shah Indian Energy Exchange

At a time when the energy landscape in India was rife with inefficiencies and discrepancies between supply and demand, Jignesh Shah‘s Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) brought in a revolution in the whole energy sector by eliminating disruptions, misalignments and energy waste. Established in 2008, IEX became an open-access market mechanism for power trading that enabled the electricity surplus states and electricity deficit states with timely hedging and risk management, which was a common occurrence before the inception of IEX. Jignesh Shah created a technology-enabled, transparent platform for stakeholders to enhance and streamline markets to help promote and strengthen India’s energy security.

IEX: A TRENDSETTER IN ENERGY MANAGEMENT

The Indian Energy Exchange was set up on June 27, 2008, which at the time became the first power exchange in India to be regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). IEX introduced a dayahead market based on close auctions, which had double-sided bidding and uniform pricing, which in turn enabled state electricity boards, power producers, traders, and industrial consumers to trade electricity efficiently. IEX’s yearly contribution to GDP was 1.4 lakh crore (assuming that each unit of electricity generates about Rs. 100 worth of GDP), and such was the dominance of IEX that it had more than 97% of market share and its nearest competitor Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL), promoted by National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE), wasn’t even 2%.