New Delhi: Gas trade volume on the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) rose 326.03% year-on-year to 13.28 million MMBtu in October 2026, according to the exchange's monthly market update. The volume was equivalent to 334.59 million standard cubic metres (MMSCM).
However, trade volume declined 25.25% from September's 17.76 million MMBtu, which was the highest monthly volume recorded by the exchange at the time. IGX executed 221 trades during October.
City Gas Distributors Bought All Traded HPHT Gas
City gas distribution (CGD) companies purchased all the domestic high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) gas traded on IGX during October to meet demand for domestic piped natural gas (PNG-D) and transport-sector compressed natural gas (CNG-T).
Domestic HPHT gas accounted for 24.12% of the month's traded volume, while the remaining 75.88% comprised free-market gas, the exchange said.
Producers also traded nearly 15.43 MMSCM of domestic gas with pricing freedom. The transactions took place at Jaya, Hazira-ONGC, Suvali and the Bokaro coal-bed methane (CBM) block.
Power Sector Accounts for Major Share of Free-Market Gas
The power sector purchased 5.69 million MMBtu out of the 10.08 million MMBtu of free-market gas traded during October. IGX reported strong demand from the sector in the first half of the month.
Balance-of-month (BoM) contracts accounted for 57.22% of the power sector's purchases. Intraday and day-ahead contracts contributed 27.48%, while fortnightly contracts made up the remaining 15.30%.
Intraday trading also reached a new high, with IGX recording its highest-ever single-day intraday trade volume of 0.30 million MMBtu during the month.
Deliveries traded through the exchange totalled 15.05 million MMBtu in October, equivalent to 12.23 million standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD).
GIXI Falls 8.89% Month-on-Month
IGX's benchmark Gas Index of India (GIXI) declined 8.89% from September to Rs 2,471 (USD 25.87) per MMBtu in October. Despite the monthly fall, the index remained 154.44% higher than its level a year earlier.
GIXI represents the volume-weighted average price of gas traded on the exchange. It excludes ceiling-price gas, small-scale LNG (ssLNG) and long-duration contracts.
Regional price movements varied during the month. GIXI-West fell 9.86% to Rs 2,468 (USD 25.84) per MMBtu, while GIXI-East rose 26.81% to Rs 2,488 (USD 26.05) per MMBtu.
GIXI-Dahej declined 4.76% to Rs 2,359 (USD 24.70) per MMBtu, the lowest among the four indices reported by the exchange. Dahej continued to record the highest trade volumes in the free-market category.
IGX Adds One-Year and Two-Year Contracts
IGX introduced one-year and two-year contracts in October, expanding its long-duration trading options. The exchange said the contracts would allow participants to secure gas supplies over longer periods through a transparent price-discovery mechanism.
It also launched a platform for booking unused regasification capacity at LNG terminals, allowing market participants to identify and access available capacity.
With these additions, IGX had 12 standardised natural gas contracts as of 31 October. Eight are fixed-price contracts: intraday, day-ahead, daily, weekly, weekday, fortnightly, monthly and balance-of-month. The other four are term-ahead or index-linked contracts covering three months, six months, one year and two years.
The exchange operates across 19 delivery points, including regasified LNG terminals, pipeline interconnection points and landfall points of domestic gas fields.
IGX Preparing for IPO
IGX operates under the regulatory framework of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). The exchange said it is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of its equity shares, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions.
According to the update, IGX filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) dated 14 July with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and BSE.
