Indian Energy Exchange Forms Subsidiary To Explore Business Opportunities In Carbon Market

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), India’s leading and premier energy market platform, on Tuesday (27 December) incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary company “International Carbon Exchange Private Limited” (ICX) to explore business opportunities in the voluntary carbon market.

The IEX acts as a marketplace for electricity trading in India and is approved and regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

"ICX will enable participants to buy and sell voluntary carbon credits at competitive prices through its transparent and reliable platform and facilitate reduction of global GHG [Green House Gas] emission by 45 per cent by 2030 to get on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees," the IEX said in a statement.

This is in line with the recently concluded COP27 that reiterated the need to ramp-down GHG emissions.

In the national context, India has set a target to Net Zero emissions by 2070.

The ICX will also help corporates to meet their climate commitments and provide a robust market signal for attracting further investments in sustainable projects.

The annual global demand for voluntary carbon credits is expected to reach around 1.5 gigatonnes by 2030, with India contributing around 200 million tonnes, as per industry estimates.

SN Goel, Chairman and Managing Director, IEX said, “It gives me immense pleasure to announce the incorporation of our wholly-owned subsidiary, International Carbon Exchange, which will be India’s first voluntary Carbon Exchange platform. This is aligned to our vision of architecting next-generation solutions for sustainable energy to ensure competitive, transparent and reliable access".

"With our earlier diversification initiative, Indian Gas Exchange, transforming the Gas market in the country, we continue to sustainably transition India’s energy market through efficient and asset-light businesses. Establishing a transparent and reliable carbon trading platform is an important step towards achieving global as well as national sustainability aspirations," Goel added.