GUVNL to pick 5% stake in PXI

Drops plans of separate energy exchange in Guj.

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) or the erstwhile GEB is planning to pick up five per cent stake in Power Exchange India Ltd (PXI), one of the two nation-wide exchanges for trading of electricity, for an undisclosed amount.

A senior official of GUVNL while confirming the development said that the board has decided to pick stake in PXI quite some time, they would be sealing the deal in a month’s time or so. He however, refused to disclose the investment involved in the deal.

GUVNL has meanwhile dropped its plans to set up an energy exchange platform for trading power in Gujarat, sources familiar with the development said.

Last year, GUVNL had done some initial spadework for the power exchange. It had already invited bids from trading members and was evaluating the cost of the project and other project details including joint venture partners.

Triple Point Technology, a supplier of cross industry software for commodity exchanges has provided its flagship product Commodity XL to GUVNL. The state-owned power company has been the first state electricity company to deploy the integrated trading and risk management solution.

PXI has been promoted by two of India's leading Exchanges, National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) & National Commodities & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX).

The exchange aims to provide a reliable marketplace for buyers to meet up with any additional demand they have over and above the demand that is being met presently through long term power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Besides GUVNL, Power Finance Corporation, JSW Energy, GMR Energy, Jindal Steel & Power have also shown interest as equity partners in the venture. Apart from PXI, Financial Technology promoted Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) is also running successfully with a considerable chunk of market share.