Electricity price on bourse slides to Rs 2.05 per unit in Aug

Market clearance price has been exceptionally low this summer in comparison to prices over the same time in all 5 years since the bourse began operations in 2008

Reflecting lower demand despite the summer season, the price of electricity sold on country's leading power exchange IEX declined to little over Rs 2 per unit in August.

Volume of electricity traded on the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) remained almost steady at 2,343 million units in August compared to the previous month.

"The average market clearing price (MCP) in August plunged to Rs 2.05 per unit from Rs 2.28 per unit last month, a reduction of 10% in comparison to the previous month," IEX said in a statement.

The market clearance price has been exceptionally low this summer in comparison to prices over the same time in all five years since the bourse began operations in 2008.

Purchase bids were received for about 2,899 million units of electricity whereas the sale bids were much higher at over 5,200 million units (MUs).

"The quantum of electricity traded before accounting for congestion in the transmission corridor amounted to 2,725 MUs, whilst 383 MUs could not be traded as a result of network congestion," the exchange said.

According to IEX, Punjab, Southern and Western states were net buyers while Northern, North-Eastern and Eastern region were net sellers of electricity in August.

Last month, the number of participants stood at 1,086.