Why is PTC India share price skyrocketing despite weak market sentiments? Experts see IEX connect

Small-cap stock PTC India rallied nearly 9% in intraday deals on Thursday, July 24, as investors cheered the power regulator's decision to implement market coupling from next year onwards. While this move elicited a sharp drop in IEX share price, which entered into a free fall, it gave PTC India investors a reason to cheer.

PTC India share price jumped as much as 8.80% on the BSE to ₹206.90 apiece in intraday deals today. This rally holds prominence as it comes despite a crash in the Indian stock market, as Sensex and Nifty lost nearly 0.70% each.

Why is PTC India stock rising amid fall in IEX shares?

According to analysts, IEX's loss is PTC India's gain!

Avinash Gorakshkar, a SEBI-registered fundamental analyst, said the recent decline in IEX shares can be attributed to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's (CERC) new norm, set to be implemented from January 2026, introducing price coupling across all power exchanges.

Currently, there are three major power exchanges in India:

1. Indian Energy Exchange (IEX): Holds approximately 85% market share;
2. Hindustan Power Exchange (HPX): Promoted by PTC India, BSE, and ICICI Bank;
3. Power Exchange India Ltd (PXIL): Promoted by NSE and NCDEX.

Gorakshkar noted that this regulation is likely to erode IEX’s market dominance, allowing newer and smaller players like HPX and PXIL to gain ground. “Among them, PTC India could emerge as a significant beneficiary, as even a modest increase in HPX’s market share could add meaningful value to PTC’s overall market capitalisation due to its relatively smaller size,” he added.

What did CERC order say on market coupling?

CERC, in its order late last evening, also said that given the shorter time for bid submission and running the market clearing engine, the decision to implement the coupling of real-time market (RTM) of the power exchanges shall be considered at a later stage, after gaining operational experience from the coupling of DAM.

Under the new system, other power exchanges will also act as market couplers, challenging IEX's central role. Market coupling is an economic model used in energy markets to create a single, uniform price for electricity across different trading platforms or exchanges.

As a result, IEX share price entered into a freefall, declining as much as 28% to the day's low of ₹135.30 on the BSE.

Harshal Dasani, Business Head, INVasset PMS, said, “The move is a regulatory game-changer—it transfers price discovery from individual exchanges to a central clearing mechanism managed by the Grid Controller of India. This undermines IEX’s historical dominance in setting spot electricity prices.”

While regulators aim to improve efficiency and transparency, investors fear revenue erosion and reduced platform stickiness.

“With the core business model under pressure and limited clarity on long-term profitability, markets have rightly reacted. For IEX, the days of monopoly-like pricing power may now be history,” Dasani added.

How to trade PTC India shares now?

On the other hand, as the PTC India share price gains traction, analysts remain positive on the stock as per tech charts.

Overall, the trend on the technical chart is looking positive, but the stock has already surged a lot during Thursday's deals, said Anuj Gupta, Director at Ya Wealth.

“For the near-term target of ₹210 and ₹245, one should wait for some profit booking and take a fresh buying position around ₹175 to ₹180. However, one must maintain a strict stop loss at ₹164. If the stock breaks above ₹210 without any profit-booking, then in that case one can initiate fresh buying above ₹210 for a ₹245 target, maintaining a stop loss at ₹180,” Gupta advised. He added that PTC India share price is currently facing a hurdle at ₹210, while it has current support at ₹180 and ₹165.

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.