Indian Energy Exchange Limited (IEX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Very good afternoon to everyone. Myself Vineet Harlalka, CFO, Company Secretary and Compliance Officer of Indian Energy Exchange Limited. It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all to the 18th Annual General Meeting of Indian Energy Exchange Limited, which is being conducted virtually in accordance with the surplus issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and SEBI. The AGM being conducted through virtual platform enables enhanced and broader participation of our esteemed shareholders. Embracing this innovative approach enable us to a transient geographical constraint and extend the reach of the AGM granting shareholders from diverse location, engage activity in our proceedings. By leveraging virtual connectivity, we aim to create an inclusive environment that fosters meaningful discussion and facilitate seamless interactions. This step not only aligned with our evolving dynamics of the modern digital landscape, but also underlines our dedication to transparency, openness and shareholders empowerment. I'm pleased to welcome our Board of Directors to the 18th Annual General meeting and introduce them to you. We are hereby joined on the webcast by Shri Satyanarayan Goel, our Chairman and Managing Director. He's also a member of CSR and Sustainability Committee, ERLC Committee and other Board committees. He have 45 years of rich experience in different areas of power sector. I welcome Mrs. Sudha Pillai, our Non-Executive Independent Director and retired IAS Officer of Kerala cadre, one of the foremost women to serve in the Indian Civil Services. She is also the Chairperson of the Audit Committee and a member of NRC, CSR and Sustainability Committee. I welcome Prof. K. T. Chacko, our Non-Executive Independent Director, a retired IAS Officer and has 34 years of experience in public administration. He is also member of the NRC committee, Shareholders Relationship Committee, CSR Committee, and Risk Management Committee. He is also a member of the Audit Committee. I welcome Shri Tejpreet Chopra, our Non-Executive Independent Director, member of a few committees. He's also Founder and CEO of Bharat Light and Power, a leading renewal energy generation and technology company in India. I welcome Shri Amit Garg, our Non-Executive Director, member of Audit Committee, Stakeholder Relationship Committee and other committees. He's a seasoned business professional with almost 30 years of diverse functional experience across multiple industries. I'd like to inform Mr. Gautam Dalmia, our Non-Executive Director, is not able to attend this AGM due to some last minute emergencies. Apart from our directors, company's statutory auditors, secretarial auditors are also attending the meeting from their respective location. Mr. Ankit Jain, a Practicing Company Secretary, appointed as a scrutinizer for this meeting for ensuring voting process is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. He is also attending the meeting through the virtual mode. I welcome you all to this 18th Annual General Meeting of Indian Energy Exchange Limited. Now before we proceed further, I would like to highlight certain points regarding participation in the meeting. Facility to join the meeting was open 30 minutes before the scheduled time of the AGM at 11:30 a.m. and should be kept open throughout the proceedings of the AGM. The Q&A session will take place once the Chairman opens the floor for questions and answers. For a smooth conduct of the meeting, all the lines of the shareholders will be on mute. The proceedings of the AGM are being recorded and will be hosted on the website of the company after the AGM. The certificate from the Secretarial Auditors towards compliance with SEBI, Share Based and Sweat Equity regulation, the Register of Directors and Key Management Persons, and the Register of Contracts or Agreements along with other statutory documents are made available electronically for inspection by the members during the AGM. The members are requested to refer to the instructions provided in the notice and in case members face any difficulty, they may reach out to the help line numbers. Without any further delay, now I request Mr. Satyanarayan Goel, our Honorable Chairman and Managing Director to occupy the chair and preside over the meeting.

Thank you, Vineet. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us today. I, Satyanarayan Goel, Chairman and Managing Director of the company on behalf of the Board of Directors of Indian Energy Exchange Limited, extend a warm welcome to each one of you present at the 18th Annual General Meeting of the company. Our goal is to approximate the experience of the meeting held in person, including the opportunity to participate in the meeting through a videoconferencing facility and more -- and vote electronically, and I'm pleased to inform you that your company has made all of us feasible under the current circumstances to enable such facilities. As the time is already passed 12 noon and the requisite quorum is present at the AGM, I hereby declare the meeting is in order and commence the proceedings of the meeting. I will now commence the address to the shareholders. Dear shareholders, the Indian economy is on a steady growth trajectory fueled by strong domestic consumption and robust industrial activities. With a baseline GDP growth of 8.2% in real terms, for the fiscal FY '24, the country is on a track to become a $7 trillion economy by the end of this decade and will become the third largest economy in the world. Electricity is the cornerstone of economic activities and the ongoing right in industrialization and urbanization have led to consistent growth in the power consumption. According to CA, energy consumption in India has already reached 1,739 billion units in FY '24, reflecting a 7.5% year-on-year increase. While in this financial year, in the first quarter itself, power consumption has already increased by 11%. We met a maximum demand of 250 gigawatt in May 2024. This increase was driven by increasing power consumption in both industrial and residential sector. Aligned with an essence objective of net zero by 2017, the government is driving various decarbonization efforts across multiple sectors through electrification. The goal is to reduce fossil fuel consumption, lower carbon emissions and boost power demand in the country. Reports estimate that India's electricity sector will grow at a rate of more than 6%, reaching around 2,500 billion units by 2030. This presents significant growth opportunity for your company. Despite the fluid geopolitical landscape over the past year, the global energy sector is gradually recovering. The Indian power sector has shown remarkable resilience in the face of global supply crunch last year. This was supported by proactive measures taken by government and a strong focus on expanding generation capacities. Further to meet India's growing electricity demand, Ministry of Power has been working on thermal capacity addition. At present, almost about 28 gigawatt of capacity is under construction, out of which, in this year itself, 15 gigawatt of capacity is expected to be commissioned and balance capacity in the next year. In addition to this, Government is also working on adding 50 gigawatt of thermal capacity, which will get commissioned in the next 6 to 8 years. In addition to the thermal capacity addition, Government is also aggressively working on renewable capacity addition and the plan is to add 50 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity every year up to 2030 to reach -- to increase the renewable generation capacity from 200 gigawatt to 500 gigawatt by 2030. Power exchanges will play a vital role in efficient integration of this significant renewable capacity addition into the bridge. Exchanges will be instrumental in managing the intermittencies of renewable energy, reducing the cost of integration and providing high signals for further capacity additions. Recognizing importance of the power exchanges, the government also aims to significantly increase the share of power exchanges in the power market. Recently, major developments have taken place in the energy storage space also to enable renewable power integration with the grid. Earlier this year, Ministry of Power finalized the viability cap funding, mechanism to develop 4,000 megawatt hour battery storage system in the country. I'm happy to say that the battery CapEx cost has also been fast reducing. In 2023, battery storage cost was around INR 10 per unit. And in the last 3 months, the prices have come down to almost about INR 5 per unit. This means that we can store the power during the daytime, Solar Power during the day time at a rate of INR 2.5 per unit and use that power in the evening hours -- evening peak hours at INR 7.5 per unit. And these rates are much lower than the clearing price during the peak hours. That means these storage systems can make significant revenue gain also by selling the power during the peak hours. Now adding power along with the storage is now feasible on round-the-clock basis at a price -- comparable with the price from thermal generic plants. One of the options considered for charging and discharging the battery storage system is full power exchanges. This is expected to increase liquidity on the exchanges. A concept not recently issued by Ministry of Nonrenewable Energy has proposed setting up market base battery energy storage system of 10 gigawatt hour for sell-through exchanges. In FY '24, several key policy and regulatory initiatives were implemented to further deepen India's power markets and accelerating the transition towards a sustainable and self-sufficient energy future. Among the most significant regulatory developments was the implementation of new grid court, the sharing of interstate transmission charges and the general network access court. After implementation of G&A regulations in October '23, the normal is between the bilateral and collective transactions have resolved. And thereafter, we have been seeing significant increase in the collective transactions. The Ministry of Power also amended the late payments of charge rules and now mandating generators with power purchase agreements to offer the surplus power for sale on the exchange rate form. This policy change has significantly enhanced sell-side liquidity on the exchanges and we are presently witnessing participation from center genetic stations and almost about 50 million to 60 million units of URS power is being offered on the exchanges on daily basis. Next step in this is to ensure participation of interstate private generating stations with the work is in progress. There are few issued business to be addressed and Ministry of Power and -- the Ministry of Power is working on that. And after that, we expect interested generating stations also to participate under this rule on exchanges. This is going to be a big opportunity for your company. Central Exchange Authority has updated procedure for cross-border electricity trade and now the cross-border entities can also do transactions in the real-time market. Our cross-border volumes last year increased by 52% and the volume was almost about 4 billion units. According to BIMSTEC Energy Outlook 2035, total cross-border electricity trade could grow 7-folds from 16 billion units in 2020 to 127 billion units in 2035, which should also significantly increase cross-border volumes from the exchanges. REC trading on power exchanges has been increased to twice a month and various types of RECs are not fungible as one. As a result, liquidity in the REC market has significantly improved. Further, floor price for REC has been removed. As a result of all this, REC volume in FY '24 reached almost about 75 lakh certificates with an increase of almost about 27%. Since the implementation of new REC regulations, prices also have been with our increasingly competitive with the lowest ever price of INR 120 per REC against INR 1,000 per REC in April '23. These changes -- these changes are expected to further incentivize obligated entities to purchase REC to meet the renewable power purchase obligations. Further, with REC inventory of more than INR 3.5 crores certificates and more certificates being issued every year and increasing compliance, there is a tremendous opportunity for power exchanges in this space. Now coming to IEX update. This year marked the 16th aniversary of IEX. It has been an expiring journey for your company. We started with trading 2 billion units in FY 2009 and closed the FY '24 with about 110 billion units of total volume, thereby registering a growth at the rate of CAGR of 30% since inception. Today, the IEX platform has over 7,900 participants and has been able to introduce efficiency, transparency and flexibility in trade and payment security across entire power sector value chain. These milestones have been possible only due to the unwavering faith and support of all the partners, employees and stakeholders. IEX continues to launch new products and segments to keep pace with the fast growing energy market. In FY '24, we launched the ancillary market, the high-priced termed market and currently awaiting approval of CRC for launching our term end market contracts from 3 months to 11 months. We have also filed our petition with CRC for launch of green term head market. In FY '24, IEX achieved traded volume of 110 billion units, a growth of 14% over FY '23. On the financial performance for the year 2024 on a consolidated basis, revenue increased by 16.1% over a year-on-year basis from INR 474.1 crores in FY '23 to INR 550.8 crores in FY '24. Consolidated PAT at INR 350.8 crores increased by 14.7% on a year-on-year basis. The Board of Directors of your company announced a total dividend of INR 2.5 per share, equivalent to 250% of the face value of equity shares for the fiscal year 2024. Technological innovations and customer center safety remain at the core of IEX. We have made continuous improvements to our software and hardware infrastructure to ensure high availability, reliability and security of our technology platform. In FY '24, we launched EnergeX, a best platform that provides customers with digital registration, market data insights, easy financial reconciliation and web based bidding. As India progresses on its net zero journey, IEX will continue to be at the forefront of adopting new technologies and innovate to harness opportunities provided by a sustainable energy future. As you are aware, Indian Gas Exchange, IGX was launched by your company in 2020 with the aim to create a robust gas market in India. IGX is India's first national level gas exchange for physical delivery of natural gas, aligned with the government's vision to double the share of natural gas in the Indian energy basket and to increase it from 6% to 15% by 2030. Within a brief span of 3 years, IGX has achieved several important milestones. Today, IGX constitutes nearly 10% of the country's entire spot market and 2% of the India -- India's gas consumption. IGX traded more than 41 million MMBTU of gas in FY '24 and registered a profit of INR 23 crores. Recently, in first quarter of this year, IGX registered volume growth of 175% on year-on-year basis. IGX has witnessed participation from almost all major stakeholders of the sector. We believe these numbers are a validation of the efficiency and value of that gas exchange provides to its stakeholders. IGX continues to work with the ministry, regulator, market participants and other stakeholders to realize an essence dream of building a sustainable energy future through the vibrant gas market. As a socially responsible corporate citizen, IGX is committed to facilitate India's decarbonization targets. Your company has become carbon neutral for the second year running and continues to be India's only power exchange to do so. This initiative will also enable our members and clients to build up their value chain. I'm honored to announce that IEX has been certified as a great place to work for the second consecutive year. As the first power exchange in India to receive this distinction, we attribute this achievement to our employee-focused approach, which is rooted in trust and respect. Your company is also dedicated to making a positive impact across various community segments. This year, we partnered with Sabhyata Foundation to promote and protect India's culture, art and heritage. Looking forward, as envisioned by our Honorable Prime Minister, India will achieve a status of developed nation by the year 2047. Electrification will play an important role in achieving this milestone, and power exchanges will have an increasingly significant growth in country's energy landscape. With India's GDP projected to grow at a robust 7% to 8% per annum for the next few years and consequently electricity demand growth, the power sector remains poised for growth and innovation. India's annual electricity demand is expected to grow at more than 6% per year up to financial year FY '23. The emphasis on renewable energy integration signifies a major transition in country's energy landscape. A resilient power sector, driven by robust power market will be key to achieving these economic and sustainability goals. The government's focus on green hydrogen, green energy banking solutions such as pump storage and battery storage will lead to new production IEX platform. Battery energy storage system have gained momentum as there has been drastic fall in the discovered prices and the trend is expected to continue. Additionally, firm and dispatchable RE and round-the-clock tenders are also getting traction. In these tenders to meet the demand profile, significant excess capacity will have to be catered by the bidder and which is going to be sold through the power exchanges. This will also provide significant opportunity for the exchanges to increase their volume. To further create a liquid green market at the exchange, we have constantly advocated to use the market-based options for RE capacity additions such as CFD, virtual PPS and merchant models. Going forward, with large-scale rooftop solar, there would be a need to transition from subsidy-based mechanism to a market-based mechanism. IEX along with ISGF and power laser are evaluating opportunities to set up peer-to-peer energy market in the states. Through our wholly owned subsidiary, International Carbon Exchange, your company is well positioned to leverage that voluntary carbon credit markets. We are also exploring setting up the first whole exchange in India. IEX will assess and implement futuristic solutions such as automated bidding through KPI and deep data in size for effective decision making to transform the customer experience. We will also undertake robotic process automation and automate processes, enabling us to offer services to our customers with greater efficiency. Your company will be at the forefront of exploring synergies for effective growth and diversification prospects. We will continue to invest and innovate in new products and segments to support the nascent energy transition goals. Our strong governance sector, ethics and business fundamentals will continue to generate value for all stakeholders. We will continue to work with policymakers, regulators, system operators and market participants to develop country's energy market and achieve a sustainable and energy secure future. In conclusion, I would like to thank all of you, our dear shareholders for your continued faith and unwavering support towards IEX. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the company, I thank you for being a part of this AGM. I would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Power, the Chairman, members and staff of CRC, CEA, grid India, NLDC, RLDC, SLDC, SERCs, members and clients of the exchange, financial institutions, shareholders, bankers, registrar and transfer agents and business associates for their constant faith and encouragement. The Board also conveys its immense gratitude to employees, partners and investors for their continued support and efforts. Thank you. Thank you, friends. Moving further, the notice of the 18th AGM, together with annual report was already sent by electronic mode to all the shareholders and was also made available on the company's website. With the permission of the members present, I take the AGM notice as read. The Statutory Auditors and Secretarial Auditors have expressed unqualified opinion in their respective audit reports for the fiscal year '23-'24. There were no qualifications, observations or adverse comments on the financial statements. The Statutory Auditor's report on standalone financial statements also consolidated financial statements and Secretarial Auditors report are available in the annual reports. With the permission of the members present, I take these reports as read. Before we take up the items as per the notice, I would like to inform that company has provided facility of remote e-voting to all the shareholders to cast their vote electronically on all the resolutions set forth in the notice. The members who have not already casted vote by means of remote e-voting, may cast through Insta poll facility provided on the AGM portal provided by KFIN Technologies Limited. I now order for Insta poll to be conducted on all the resolutions as set out at Item #1 to #7 of the notice of 18th AGM, post which we can commence the question and answer session. The reservations in respect of businesses proposed to be taken up in this meeting have already been circulated to all the members. With your permission, I take them as read. The combined result of the remote e-voting and the e-voting done at the meeting today will be announced and displaced on the website of the company and the RTA within 2 working days of the conclusion of the meeting. I advised, Mr. Vineet Harlalka, CFO and Company Secretary to receive the scrutinizer's report and communicate the results of voting to the stock exchanges and also place them on the website of the company immediately after the declaration of the results. Dear shareholders, now we can commence the question and answer session.

[Operator Instructions] I invite our first speaker, Ms. Jasmeet Singh [Operator Instructions]. No response received, I request our second participant, Mr. Kaushik Narendra Sahookar [Operator Instructions].

Respected, sir, [indiscernible] good afternoon to all. It is an honor to stand before the esteemed panel today. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Board for granting me the opportunity to be part of the important event. First and foremost, I like to comment Chairman Sir, Mr. Satyanarayan Goel for his comprehensive presentation of the company. This insight was so thought -- so thorough that I find myself with no question. So as a speaker, it's my duty to ask. So with this -- with that in mind, I have only one question. Sir, how does IEX maintain its [indiscernible] in such a dynamic environment. Additionally, market coupling is still on the agenda as announcement by Minister from Modi Government 2.0, I request you to make representations to the Modi Government, current Modi Government 3.0 to drop this clause as it will significantly impact our revenue. Before I conclude, I want to express my sincere gratitude to entire secretary team, especially Mr. Vineet Harlalka for connecting with me and nursing the opportunity to part in this memorable event. Additionally, I request the support of the company in associating with me in the area of Secretarial Audit including Form 15 and CV. I believe CSR is helping those in need at their crucial time when they have approached the company for help. I'm confident that IEX carries the vision and commitment to support those in need. Now management were busy with other important task. So my another request has not been considered. I urge the company to take some time and provide me with the opportunity to work with our company. I'm also sure that our Chairman, Mr. Satyanarayan Goel and CS Vineet are noting ways to engage with me and they will give the opportunity to work with me with our company and make my life more meaningful. Finally, I propose utilizing the substantial savings from the virtual mode of this meeting for the benefit of speaker shareholder. This would involve arranging small get-together from shareholders, speaker, or recruiting token of appreciation. To our esteemed speaker, shareholder during festival. And on lighter note, given our shift to virtual meeting, maybe next time we should consider a virtual high-five competition to keep things lively. Thank you all for your attention.

Thank you, Mr. Kaushik. I find, you addressed two questions. One is on the market coupling. And second is, how is IEX going to maintain its competitive edge and going to grow in the future. First, on the market coupling. See, market coupling, CRC, in fact, had issued a discussion paper, the invited comments and more than 75% participants suggested that there is no need for the market coupling, market coupling is not going to bring any value to the market. And the need of the hour is to basically bring more liquidity in this market. Based on the discussions, based on the suggestions, which they had received, CRC issued an order on 6th of February 2024. And in the order also, they clearly mentioned that there is no advantage in doing plain Manila coupling of dam market and RPM market. Because one of the exchange, leading exchange has 99% market share, so coupling will not give any advantage. So one of the suggestion which they have received was that why don't we try coupling of RTM market and the share market. On that, they have issued directions to NLDC to prepare software and do some simulations for 4 months' time of these 2 markets and then submit the results with them. So far, what we understand that simulation has not started and already 6 months have passed. But one thing I'll tell you that even in coupling of share market and RTM market also, there is no merit. And nothing significant benefit is going to come. And looking at the complications which are there in physical and financial settlement of these markets, I'm sure regulatory is not going to -- not going to go ahead with the coupling of this RTM and DAM market. And even in case it happens, then also, I'm very sure that the kind of customer centricity activities, which we are carrying out we will be able to maintain our market share. We are doing all possible -- we are making all possible efforts, doing policy advocacy with the government and with the regulators in the best interest of the company and I can assure you that whatever it will happen it will be good for the company. As far as the growth opportunities are concerned, as I told you, India is a growing economy, and the power consumption in the country is also growing. We did analysis based on the past 10 years data. And we have seen if the power consumption is increasing by 10%, our volumes are increasing by almost about 27% to 30%. And with this kind of that means a multiplier of 2.7x to 3x. And in the next 5 or 6 years, our power consumption is expected to grow at a rate of 7% to 8%. And I'm sure with that our volume will definitely grow at a rate of more than 20%. In addition to this, there are a lot of other enabling factors, which are happening now. Renewables capacity addition is happening in a big way, and the Government is making lot of efforts to improve liquidity of the exchange. New products are being approved by the regulator. And on the sell side, also, a lot of efforts are being made to increase the liquidity. So with these efforts, I'm sure we will be able to achieve significant growth. Our competitive wise in spite of 3 exchanges, our market share last year was about 85%, and I'm sure we will be able to maintain that in future. All this is possible because of the customer-centric activities which we are doing, the kind of technology platform, which we have provided, the data analytics, which we are providing to our customers, the APIs bidding system and the financial settlements and I mean all these seamless activities, which are being offered by the exchange, I'm sure we will be able to maintain that customer loyalty and ensure that customers with us and ensure the market share. Thank you.

Now I request Mr. Jasmeet Singh to kindly unmute your audio, switch on your video and proceed with your question.

Thank you, everyone, helping me out to connect. This technology sometimes become a challenge. A few days, a few -- a couple of weeks back, there was a crash of Microsoft leading to, say, postponement of several AGMs on that particular day. Anyways, so respected Chairman, Shri Goel Sahab, Professor Chacko Ji, Director Chopra Ji, Director Garg Ji, Director Dalmia Ji, Madam Sudha Pillai Ji, Head of Finance and Secretariat Shri Vineet Harlalka ji and all the shareholders attending this video call, Pan India, Pan Globe, very good afternoon. I'm just Jasmeet Singh from Delhi. So Chairman, sir, it is a pleasure attending, say this call today, and the presentation, which you have given, I am very glad to read the growing numbers, say, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, we have been growing. And the steps which you are taking, which you have, say, touched upon that the setting up of say, coal exchange, setting up of gas exchange, setting up of carbon exchange are really key drivers which are going to take our company to the next say, leap of growth. So I have full say, confidence in our leadership team who are working relentlessly to justify our, say, valuations in the market. As an investor, what we would like to see, we would like to see how our investments is growing, and that's what you are doing. And thank you very much. I have a small question while you have given a detailed presentation and my previous shareholder has also asked, and you have given a detailed reply, I also have a one small question. That is with regard to the, say, our holding in the IGX, the gas exchange. I understand that as per the regulatory requirements, we need to reduce it in a 5-year frame -- time frame. So what is the plan of IEX for this divestment. If you can kindly throw some light on this, it will be great. So that's one question which I would like to throw at -- and with this, I would like to thank the -- say, usually, we say thanks to the, say, CFO and CS. But here, we have Vineet Ji, who is handling both the portfolios. And so thanks to him and his team to enable me to interact with you today. It's been always a pleasure. I recall those fond days when we used to, say, assemble in the auditorium and say, attend the meetings. Thank you once again. Bye-bye.

Thank you, Jasmeet Singh Ji. You raised a valid question about the IGX divestment. We got the license from PNGRB in 2020 December, and we were given 5 years to bring down our equity, which is at present at 47% to 25% by December 2025. So we have 1.5 more years to go. And there are different options available. The most beneficial option is where we can monetize -- we can really get value of our equities, the IPO. And otherwise, even the block bills with the strategic investors. So we will explore all these options maybe next year sometime during this time of year of next year as to ensure that complies with the regulatory provisions.

Now I would request our third participant, Mr. Krishnan Srinivasan to kindly unmute your audio, switch on your video and proceed with your question.

Good day to the IEX Board and Management team. I would like to congratulate the Board and the Management team on our performance in FY '24. Particularly in the volume growth as well as expanding into new business areas [indiscernible] very much appreciated. I have several questions, but in the interest of time I'm particularly focus -- I'd like to focus on a very specific concern relating to regulatory issues and it's in fact of future growth and potential. What I have been noticing is we are experiencing frequent disruptions due to constant changes in regulations and policies [indiscernible] sometimes reviews around the price gap or price pressures, the margin pressures, which will impact our business. Could you share what measures that we as organization are letting to safeguard our refills, our existing business, more importantly, our 95%-plus market share and also revenues and should continued revenue and profitability growth amid this frequent regulatory changes. And as a contribution of this, what is the long-term aspiration for IEX. I'm not asking for a revenue guidance or profitability guidance, but more from a very specific point of view, what is our long-term aspirations. That's it from my end.

Thank you, Mr. Krishnan Srinivasan. Your first question was about the frequent regulatory changes and frequent changes in the regulations and how it is going to impact the business of the IEX. First of all, I would like to assure all the shareholders that as far as the exchanges are concerned, changes in the regulations are not happening frequently. The first regulation on the power market came in 2010, and thereafter in 2021, there was an amendment, the new regulations were issued. And in fact, 2021 regulations were also equally for good further market development. In between, a lot of discussions papers are issued. I mean, these are discussions papers to have a relook at the market designs. Discussion paper around [indiscernible] was issued in 2018. There was a lot of discussions around that and a lot of -- I mean -- I mean, interactions with the academia with the distribution companies, generating companies happened. And at the end of the discussion, it was felt that probably the market is not right at the moment for implementing this [indiscernible] concept. Similarly now, the market coupling concept, there is a discussion paper, which was issued. And again, on that also, I must say that still the discussions are going on, the simulations and based on the results, they will say whether there's an merit in that or not and what is going to be a road map for implementation of that, will be achieving a benefit, will it lead to market development. So I don't think the frequent changes are happening. And this kind of discussions are good, only then the market development can take place. Price cap, see price cap is normally introduced, normally the selling price is there to ensure that whatever generating capacity is there in the country that is available for bidding on the exchange platform. So earlier, we had a price cap of INR 20 subsequent. And at that price cap, the market clearing price was becoming very high because there was a shortage of supply and demand was very high. So just because of the very high demand, the price was increasing. So in view of that, the price gap of INR 20 was reduced first to INR 12, and then to INR 10. And this was done basically to ensure that the clearing price becomes reasonable. And even at INR 10 also, whatever generation capacity is there in the country, there is variable cost is less than INR 10, and they're able to generate power and bid on the exchange platform. So we are actively working with the policymakers and regulatory commissions to ensure that whatever happens in the sector, it is for the market development. And in fact, if you look at the policy developments which have taken place in the last 4, 5 years, there are supporting market development. And government is also concerned about bringing more liquidity in the exchange platform. So I can assure you one thing that this is definitely going to be further market development and not going to be for the next 10 years. Long-term aspiration, our long-term aspiration as far as the IEX is concerned, definitely, IEX today has become an important institution in the power sector. And we have a market share of almost about 8% of the total generation is transected through IEX. Our aspiration is to take it to almost about 25% in the next about 10 years' time because in most of the developed countries, exchange transactions are in the order of 40% to 50%, and looking at the developments, which are taking in the power sector, looking at the pace at which the renewable capacity addition is taking place, I'm sure we will be able to achieve this target also, and not only the capacity exchange, our image also -- our aspiration is also to make IGX as big as what we are doing in IEX today, and also have other commodity trading like carbon and fuel trading. So we are all working on that. So I can assure you one thing that we will do all that is possible to maximize the value for our shareholders, thank you.

I request our fourth participant, Mr. Yashpal Chopra to kindly unmute your audio, switch on your video and proceed with your question.

Myself Yashpal Chopra calling from Delhi. I am a shareholder of the company since the time the company has just come into being. So being a super senior citizen around 85 and Advocate by profession looking after the corporate affair, I [ congratulate the ] management over here that our CMD being a very small team of directors is doing fantastic. So I would just complement him. I will rather congratulate him on getting certified by the ISO agency. So the certification means a big, big name as the company that is a name for the reputation even at international level around that. Sir, as regard the performance of the company, I will say that it is a lifetime high performance of the company in spite of the turbulant global economy, where almost internationally, the economy was infected and our company has made a grant revenue, the lifetime high revenue, PBT, PAT, ROC, EPS and investor-friendly dividend of 250%. This is a matter of kudos for our management. So I'm very much -- I feel very much proud that our management is handling a product -- a product which [ is definitely ] -- which is of great, great importance for the growth of our country, and your motor of the company is to provide an automated exchange counter for sale and purchase of these power and [indiscernible] to empower, whether it is electricity, whether it is coal, whether it is electricity, whether it is energy. And I'm quite sure that the coming time, you will just handle even the solar and renewable power energy also and hydel and thermal power also. And this, I feel that is going to be a very big bonanza for the company and the bonanza for the country as well because the industrial revolution of the country, which is just going at the time under the supervision of, under the vision of, under the, encouragement of our dynamic Prime Minister, so that means there is a ocean [ life ] for our company. Our company which is just electrifying not only the houses, even the household of the people which is just providing life -- luxury life to the people. So this is a very, very novel job and very -- I can say that prestigious job for the consumer. Sir, I can -- and the future of our country is actually light because our country is extending like anything. And as for IMF, our GDP growth is going to be about 8%, and that means higher per capita income and higher -- bigger purchasing power with the people. And on the other hand, our PM's moto for this retail sector, retail housing and all that can also be a -- I can say, boost for our company. Sir, I can speak a lot, but I'd just like to come only with a few queries. The first query is that you are having your cabinet leaders with the 5 people only. In case you extend it, you must contemplate on inclusion of the woman director because our Prime Minister want -- give a more importance to the women empowerment, and at this time, I have got a query as to what is the ratio of women empowerment in our HR team, and the [ sub-second ] which is a very, very important question, that you -- through our balance sheet, it has been just provided by our company secretary over there to me, I have just gone through that. You have just mentioned about the 7 risk, and the 7 risk for that, you have just made some committees just to mitigate the risk. So out of 6 risk, I can understand very well the risk of these operational risk of the market - risk of this, means, [indiscernible], but what about the risk of regulatory body, that I cannot understand it. And in this interconnection, I would just like to rephrase 1 example. Just 2 months ago, 1 -- he may be Power Minister, he is -- was replying to the query of a Media person and that was shown on the ZeeTV that working in the power sector shall not be encouraged. And he said, let me want to curtail that, and just on that 1 dialogue our share, which was being quoted around 156 at that time, that fell to around 142 and all this, I as a person who was having 234 shares -- the next day, I decided to even clear that, and I cleared that at around INR 124 which I have never got back and I got back in the same day only 192 shares in [indiscernible] those 234 i had sacrificed. So as you're speaking to those person in the ministry and all that, you please just tell him -- tell them, even I think he may be listening to what I'm saying, that such statement should not be given before the maturity, that statement is even given after the resolution is passed, that is tolerable, but even before that, he is giving such statement is so much risky that there's so much capital of the people have been lost on that day. So this is food for thought for you as well for that person who is expected to be very, very responsible person. So we want that -- though we have kind of so many agencies for mitigation of all our risk factors. For this respect, we need some dynamics approach for that. So this is my request, my appeal because that will be in the interest of the [indiscernible] shareholders because they are mostly affected by that. Sir, before I wind up, I must thank the corporate [ governance ] under our CFO and CF, who is just 1 person, Mr. Vineet by providing me a chance to speak. And I would thank his team mate, Mr. Anuj who has been quite active in approaching me, and reminding me the link and all that, and I will thank your moderator also and that she has just attended to me. She must know that I'm a person with the 85 years of age, I can only offer blessing for the entire team. Blessing for our company secretary, blessing for the moderator, and I pray God for the positivity for the company, and I'm quite sure I can say it with confidence that 1 day our company will be 1 of the blue chip company because people -- the product in their hands is a project of prestige for your country. So best of luck to you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Yashpal Chopra Ji. Thank you for your kind words, and you raises 1 issue about the general diversity in the company. We are actively working on that. I can assure you that there has been significant increase in that. Today, we have almost about more than 20% women employees in the company. We have where women employees at the senior management level also, and we definitely keep giving due consideration to that, and in future, it is further going to increase. Your second point was our policy advocacy with the government and the regulator, so that to ensure that nothing adverse happens to the company. I would like to again assure you that we are actively working with the government and regulators and to ensure that regulations, which are implemented are for development of the market. And we have seen in the past that both government and regulators are there for development of the market only. So with that, I would like to thank you again.

I request our fifth participant, Mr. Ajay Kumar Jain to kindly unmute your audio, switch to your video and proceed with your question.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Ajay Kumar Jain Ji. [Foreign Language] more than 50% of the profit, we will try to distribute as dividend. And from the last 6, 7 years, we have consistently been distributing more than 50% of the profit in the form of dividend. Last year, our dividend payout was almost about 65% of the profit, and we will continue to do that. The company is every year making high profit and high dividends, something to clear. So in 2024, '25 also, we'll continue with the scheme, Board of Directors after the final results, they basically will reevaluate the need of the company for the growth and also to reward the shareholders declared for the dividend. So it will be definitely more than 50%, 60% of the profit will be distributed to shareholders. Thank you.

I request our next speaker, Mr. Gaurav Kumar Singh to kindly unmute your audio, switch on your video and proceed with your question.

Respected Chairman Sir, Board of Directors and fellow shareholders, good afternoon to all of you. My name is Gaurav Kumar Singh joining this AGM from New Delhi. So first of all, I would like to thank our Company Secretary and his entire Secretarial team for this excellent arrangement and also for giving me the opportunity to express my views on this platform. Sir, I feel proud to be shareholder of this company, as company is doing extremely well as it is reflecting in our share price, which is nearly at it's 32-week high. So the credit goes to you and all the employees of the company. So my most of the questions are already covered in the annual report. Still, I wish to know, is there any update on the launch of derivatives? And what steps have been taken by the company to improve investors' confidence? Sir, as far as the agenda of this AGM is concerned, I support all the resolutions along with all my family members. And once again, I wish to thank our Company Secretary and his entire team for maintaining [indiscernible].

Thank you, Gaurav Ji. And you raised a question about the launch of derivatives. Derivatives will be [ launched ], see, as per the legal provisions, the spot market is regulated by CRC and where the physical delivery of power happens. So we are doing the physical delivery of power and regulated by CRC. Derivatives, which are financially supplemental instruments, these are regulated by SEBI, and this will be launched -- this will be launched on the SEBI regulated exchanges. But one thing is definitely that whether and when the derivatives are launched, it will also liquid -- increase liquidity, and it will also reduce volatility in the price. So, IEX also is going to get benefited by that. We are working actively with the regulators, our regulator also for launch of the derivatives on the MCX platform or the NSE platform wherever they decide to do so. And what we understand is that there is a joint working group consisting of CRC and SEBI, they are working on the products which can be launched initially in the derivative market. And once they decide about it, then only the derivatives will be launched. Thank you.

I would now request seventh participants, Mr. Sandeep Kumar, who has registered himself as a speaker. Mr. Sandeep Kumar, please unmute your line and ask your question.

Good afternoon to everyone. Sir, I just want to say that our corporate governance is too good [Foreign Language] what is the update on the coal exchange? [Foreign Language].

[Foreign Language] Government of India, commercial coal mining [Foreign Language] Coal India is also selling a lot of coal through the e-auction route. So looking at all these things, Ministry of Coal has been working on creating a market framework in the coal sector. And they engaged a consultant for advising them to create a coal exchange in the country, where we have been also interacting with Ministry of Coal for from the last 2, 3 years. And very recently, you must have also read in the newspapers, and seen in the media that approval of coal exchange is important agenda in the list of Ministry of Coal and they are working on that. So as and when that is approved by the Cabinet, we will definitely -- we are working on this, and we will like to have this opportunity. We will like to set up the first coal exchange in the country. And what I believe is that there is a good amount of opportunity to do trading of coal in the sector. So we are basically awaiting approval of the Government for setting up a coal exchange. As and when they decide, we will apply for that. Thank you.

I'll request our next speaker, Mr. Ravi Kumar Naradi, to kindly unmute audio, switch on your video and proceed with your question. Since, no response received. I now request the company secretary to kindly read the questions, if any, posted by the shareholders in the live chat box or sent to the company directly. Over to you Company Secretary.

We have 2, 3 questions we received. How much is the competition from the BSE and other companies promoted Power Exchange, and how our natural gas and carbon trading platforms are going to perform?

Yes. Regarding competition, -- there are 3 power exchanges in the country now. One is Indian Energy exchange, your company, and there is PXIL and third is the Hindustan Power Exchange. And I'm very happy to say that our share in -- among all the 3 exchanges is almost about 85%. We have been maintaining the leadership position right from the day 1, and we are maintaining that basically by doing -- by building a robust technology platform, providing customer-centric [ attribute ], a lot of customer-centric activities, interacting with the customers, developing products to meet the demand of the customers, to meet the requirement of the customers. And because of all this, we have been able to maintain the market share, and I'm sure we will be able to continue to maintain this market share in future also. On Gas Exchange. Gas Exchange is doing a good business. It is making profit for the last 3 years and Government of India has a reason to increase the consumption of gas from 6% of energy basket to almost about 15% of energy basket. So in -- by 2030, so that is -- that means that today, cash is -- consumption is almost about 180 MMSCFD per day, increased it to almost about 180 MMSCFD per day that will provide a lot of opportunity for the gas exchange, [ a lot ] -- many LNG terminals are being added, gas pipeline network is being expanded, so that will provide good opportunity for the IGX. And I'm sure IGX is going to be as big as IEX in the next 5, 6 years. Carbon market, we are exploring the opportunity and the mode of transactions in this. So it will be slightly -- I mean at this stage, it will be premature to talk anything about that, but we are working on this, and I'm sure in the next couple of months, we shall be able to create a business model for this as well. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. We have received other questions which already covered in the other questions, and so we are not taking it. And if anything, there, the shareholders can send the queries to the company, we will respond by [ there ].

Dear shareholders, we have taken note of your valuable comments and suggestions, and we'll consider them in the future. With that, we finish the question and answer session. I also extend my gratitude to our esteemed Board members for their ongoing guidance and unweaving support as well as their appropriate decisions, and that contribute to the company's growth and the optimization of shareholders' value. I want to express my appreciation to all shareholders for their valuable suggestions, insightful comments and for joining us in this today's Annual General Meeting. Speaking on behalf of both the company and our Board of Directors, we extend our heartfelt wishes for a life filled with good health and safety to each one of you. I now declare the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting has completed. Thank you.