Indian Gas Exchange October Trading Volumes Jump 326% YoY to 13.28 Million MMBtu Led by Power Demand
Gas trading volumes on the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) climbed 326.03% year-on-year to reach 13.28 million MMBtu (million British thermal units) in October 2026, according to the monthly market update released by the exchange. The volume, equivalent to 334.59 million standard cubic metres (MMSCM), highlights a structural expansion in India's spot gas market compared to the corresponding period last year.
On a sequential basis, trading volumes declined 25.25% from the record 17.76 million MMBtu registered in September 2026. A total of 221 trades were executed across the platform during the month, with actual gas deliveries totaling 15.05 million MMBtu, representing an average flow of 12.23 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD).
Power Sector Drives Free-Market Liquidity
The growth in trade volumes was largely anchored by the power generation sector, which emerged as the primary consumer of free-market gas. Free-market contracts represented 75.88% of total traded volumes on the exchange, translating to 10.08 million MMBtu. Power utilities procured 5.69 million MMBtu of this pool, with peak demand concentrated in the first half of October.
Contract preference among power producers remained oriented toward short-term operational planning:
- Balance-of-Month (BoM) contracts accounted for 57.22% of total power sector purchases.
- Intraday and Day-Ahead contracts made up 27.48% of the sector's volume.
- Fortnightly contracts contributed the remaining 15.30%.
Short-term market flexibility also reached a milestone during the month, with IGX clocking its highest-ever single-day intraday trade volume of 0.30 million MMBtu.
City Gas Companies Absorb Domestic HPHT Supplies
Domestic gas extracted from high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) fields accounted for 24.12% of the exchange's aggregate volume. City Gas Distribution (CGD) entities bought 100% of the traded HPHT volumes to service domestic piped natural gas (PNG-D) networks and transport-focused compressed natural gas (CNG-T) stations.
Additionally, upstream producers traded nearly 15.43 MMSCM of domestic gas with marketing and pricing freedom. These transactions were executed at onshore and landfall delivery points including Jaya, Hazira-ONGC, Suvali, and the Bokaro coal-bed methane (CBM) block. Across free-market volumes, the Dahej LNG terminal in Gujarat continued to record the highest trade activity.
GIXI Price Benchmark Movements
The Gas Index of India (GIXI), the exchange's volume-weighted average price benchmark, stood at Rs 2,471 ($25.87) per MMBtu in October 2026. While the benchmark price softened by 8.89% month-on-month from September, it remained 154.44% higher than October 2025 levels.
Regional price trends exhibited divergence across coastal hubs:
- GIXI-West dropped 9.86% month-on-month to Rs 2,468 ($25.84) per MMBtu.
- GIXI-East advanced 26.81% month-on-month to Rs 2,488 ($26.05) per MMBtu.
IGX currently facilitates trading across 19 physical delivery points nationwide, linking major regasified LNG (RLNG) terminals, pipeline interconnections, and domestic landfall fields. The exchange's continuous operational expansion and triple-digit annual volume surge reflect the broader push toward transparent price discovery as India targets raising natural gas's share in its primary energy mix.
