Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation

India: interstate power market. Status: operational.

Wholesale design: Multiple licensed voluntary exchanges compete alongside bilateral and long-term procurement. Exchange products include day-ahead, real-time, term-ahead and green/high-price variants; interstate scheduling is governed by CERC regulations and the Grid Code.

Operator
Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange (HPX); Grid Controller of India/NLDC for ancillary services; CERC as regulator
Nominal frequency
50 Hz
Where energy trades

Where does energy trade in Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation?

Energy in Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation trades in 6 layers: day-ahead, real-time, term-ahead, green day-ahead, high-price day-ahead and bilateral contracts.

What a battery can sell

What ancillary services can a battery sell in Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation?

Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation has 5 ancillary-service products, across 5 families — frequency containment, automatic frequency restoration, manual frequency restoration, reactive power & voltage and black start & restoration: Black Start / System Restoration Service, Primary Reserve Ancillary Service, Reactive Power and Voltage Control, Secondary Reserve Ancillary Service, Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service. Response timing, direction and eligibility for each are in the table below; a product's full record lists the official sources behind it.

Every value below comes from the official sources listed in that product's full record. Most products cite more than one, and the published sources do not say which of them states each individual value, so the binding is to the product's record rather than to a single document. A missing line means the source does not state that value — never that the value is zero.

Scroll the table sideways for the rest of the columns →

5 ancillary-service products in Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation, grouped into 5 families. Each row runs left to right through one product's life: how it activates, how quickly it has to respond, how long it has to keep delivering, and how it is bought.
Service How it activates Response Sustained delivery Procurement
Frequency containment
Primary Reserve Ancillary Service PRAS raise; lower Operational, and mandatory Response type pre- and post-fault automatic Trigger Frequency-sensitive response governed by the Indian Electricity Grid Code; no single PRAS activation threshold is established in the Ancillary Services Regulations. As stated No single national procurement quantity; requirement is embedded in system operation and unit capability. No single national procurement quantity; requirement is embedded in system operation and unit capability. Through Grid Code obligation rather than auction Bought continuous mandatory capability How it settles No separate capacity auction under the 2022 Ancillary Services Regulations; treatment follows Grid Code and deviation/ancillary settlement provisions.
Full record for Primary Reserve Ancillary Service — document bound, page for these figures not recorded
What it is for

Arrest frequency change immediately after imbalance through inherent/governor or frequency-sensitive response.

In force from

1 October 2023

Who can provide it

Grid-connected generating units and qualifying storage/resources subject to Grid Code requirements.

What the source does not state

The source states a procurement volume in its own words. It does not state a response time or how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Automatic frequency restoration
Secondary Reserve Ancillary Service SRAS raise; lower operational Response type centrally controlled AGC or remote signal Trigger NLDC activation for sustained frequency/area imbalance and conditions specified in Regulation 8; no universal public Hz threshold. Expected within 30 s Full activation 15 min Minimum obligation at least 30 min As stated Regional requirement is calculated dynamically by the Nodal Agency. Regional requirement is calculated dynamically by the Nodal Agency. Through administrative activation from qualified provider pool Bought central scheduling/activation by NLDC How it settles Fifteen-minute energy charge/compensation and performance incentive under CERC regulations, paid through the Deviation and Ancillary Service Pool Account.
Full record for Secondary Reserve Ancillary Service — document bound, page for these figures not recorded
What it is for

Restore frequency and area control after primary response, addressing regional imbalance.

In force from

1 June 2023

Who can provide it

Interstate or intrastate generation, storage or demand response with bidirectional communications, AGC where applicable, metering/SCADA and minimum 1 MW response.

Notes from the source

Provider must begin responding within 30 seconds, deliver the full SRAS obligation within 15 minutes and sustain at least the next 30 minutes.

Checkpoint recap

Expected within 30 s · Full activation 15 min · Minimum sustained 30 min

What the source does not state

The source states the response deadline, a minimum delivery period, and a procurement volume in its own words. It does not state a maximum duration.

Sources
Manual frequency restoration
Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service TRAS raise; lower operational Response type centrally dispatched manual or scheduled Trigger May be triggered when SRAS deployment in one direction exceeds 100 MW continuously for 15 minutes or under other Grid Code/system-security conditions. Full activation 15 min Minimum obligation at least 1 h As stated NLDC publishes/communicates dynamic requirements; no stable national range in the regulation. NLDC publishes/communicates dynamic requirements; no stable national range in the regulation. Through power-exchange auction cleared by NLDC requirement Bought day-ahead ancillary-service market and real-time ancillary-service market How it settles TRAS-Up uses uniform market clearing price; TRAS-Down uses pay-as-bid settlement, with commitment/energy treatment specified by regulation.
Full record for Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service — document bound, page for these figures not recorded
What it is for

Replace SRAS and resolve longer-duration imbalance using market-procured upward or downward reserve.

In force from

1 June 2023

Who can provide it

Qualified generation, storage and demand response meeting metering, telemetry, ramping and minimum-bid requirements.

Checkpoint recap

Full activation 15 min · Minimum sustained 1 h

What the source does not state

The source states the full-activation requirement, a minimum delivery period, and a procurement volume in its own words. It does not state a maximum duration.

Sources
Reactive power & voltage
Reactive Power and Voltage Control REACTIVE reactive injection; reactive absorption Operational, as a grid-code obligation Response type automatic voltage control and system operator instruction Trigger Voltage-control requirements and RLDC/NLDC instructions under the Grid Code. Reported, not a current requirement Location-specific and expressed in MVAr, not a national MW range. Location-specific and expressed in MVAr, not a national MW range. Through Grid Code and tariff/contract provisions; not the TRAS exchange auction Bought continuous obligation/contractual arrangements How it settles Grid Code/tariff-based reactive energy treatment.
Full record for Reactive Power and Voltage Control — document bound, page for these figures not recorded
What it is for

Maintain voltage profiles and reactive-power balance across the interconnected grid.

In force from

1 October 2023

Who can provide it

Generating stations and other connected facilities with reactive capability as specified by the Grid Code.

What the source does not state

The source states a procurement volume in its own words. It does not state a response time or how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Black start & restoration
Black Start / System Restoration Service BLACK_START restore generation Operational, as a grid-code obligation Response type post-blackout manual instructed Trigger RLDC/NLDC restoration instruction and regional restoration procedure. Reported, not a current requirement Location/topology based; not a national stable MW procurement quantity. Location/topology based; not a national stable MW procurement quantity. Through Grid Code obligation/contractual designation, not exchange auction Bought pre-arranged restoration plans and tests How it settles Tariff/contract and Grid Code provisions.
Full record for Black Start / System Restoration Service — document bound, page for these figures not recorded
What it is for

Re-energise the grid and restore generation following a partial or total blackout.

In force from

1 October 2023

Who can provide it

Designated black-start-capable generating stations passing periodic tests.

What the source does not state

The source states a procurement volume in its own words. It does not state a response time or how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Getting paid to exist

Does Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation have a capacity mechanism?

No central capacity market. Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation has 1 capacity/adequacy arrangement — Resource Adequacy Planning Framework — and it works differently.

Resource Adequacy Planning Framework

operational framework

Electricity Rules and national guidelines require state commissions and distribution licensees to prepare resource-adequacy plans and secure sufficient capacity, with possible non-compliance charges. Procurement occurs through utility contracts and sector-specific tenders rather than one national capacity auction.

Auction held in 2025
No — No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.

No national central capacity auction operated in 2025. CERC published a staff paper on a possible capacity market only in 2026, confirming proposal-stage rather than operational status.

Caveats

Technical notes

Primary Reserve Ancillary Service is a Grid Code obligation; Secondary Reserve Ancillary Service is centrally activated; Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service is procured through day-ahead and real-time ancillary-service segments of power exchanges.

Where this comes from

Official sources

Rules

Market explainer

Capacity-mechanism explainer

Current as of · from the Global Electricity Market Catalogue v1.2.0 (compiled to , CC BY 4.0, rendered here with wording edited for readability). Facts belong to the linked official authorities; verify the current rules before design or bidding decisions.

Questions

Common questions about Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation

Who operates Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation?
Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation covers India: interstate power market and is operated by Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange (HPX); Grid Controller of India/NLDC for ancillary services; CERC as regulator.
Was a qualifying capacity event held in Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation in 2025?
No. Resource Adequacy Planning Framework: no qualifying 2025 event is recorded. No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.
How is energy traded, priced and settled in Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation?
Indian power exchanges and interstate system operation: Multiple licensed voluntary exchanges compete alongside bilateral and long-term procurement. Exchange products include day-ahead, real-time, term-ahead and green/high-price variants; interstate scheduling is governed by CERC regulations and the Grid Code.
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The markets index holds the full set. For what the grid demands of a battery here, see the grid-code ride-through atlas.

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