How market coupling and unified energy interface (UEI) aim to reshape power trading

New Delhi: India’s power sector is undergoing rapid transformation with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (CERC) approval of market coupling on July 23, 2025, and Nandan Nilekani’s ongoing push for the Unified Energy Interface (UEI) as part of a broader Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) initiative.

While market coupling focuses on wholesale efficiency through centralized bid pooling across power exchanges (IEX, PXIL, HPX), UEI envisions a decentralized, interoperable network for retail and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy transactions.

It is important to explore potential linkages between the two, posing key questions to examine synergies, challenges, and implications for democratization in the sector.

Market coupling creates a uniform Market Clearing Price (MCP) by aggregating bids in wholesale segments like the Day-Ahead Market (DAM), aiming to reduce disparities and optimize transmission. UEI, built on the Beckn Protocol and inspired by UPI/ONDC, extends this efficiency to the retail level by enabling seamless, real-time transactions across devices, apps, and participants—such as households trading surplus solar power or EVs selling back to the grid.

Together, they form a layered ecosystem: market coupling standardizes wholesale pricing, while UEI democratizes access, allowing micro-trades that feed into or draw from the coupled market.

Nilekani’s vision positions energy as “the next UPI,” where UEI could integrate wholesale signals (e.g., MCP) into retail apps for dynamic pricing, fostering P2P trading and green energy marketplaces. This linkage could cut distribution costs by up to 25%, enhance renewable integration, and empower consumers in India’s push toward 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030.

To realize its long-term benefits, we must first understand:

1. Integration Mechanisms for UEI’s real-time data and market-coupled exchanges (e.g., MCP feeds) to enable dynamic retail pricing.


2. Regulatory Alignment, where market coupling under CERC and UEI, backed by the Ministry of Power’s India Energy Stack task force (led by Nilekani as Chief Mentor), must converge to enable broader participation in coupled markets.


3. Democratization Impact, which will lower entry barriers for small-scale participants (e.g., rooftop solar owners trading via UEI apps) and prevent monopolization of power markets.


4. Technological Synergies and Challenges, particularly how UEI’s Beckn-based protocols (supporting EV charging, battery swapping, and demand response) interface with market coupling’s centralized algorithms to shape future power markets.


5. Economic and Sustainability Outcomes, which could be achieved by linking market coupling with UEI to accelerate India’s energy transition.



Thus, this convergence presents a pivotal opportunity for a “UPI moment” in the energy sector, blending wholesale standardization with retail innovation. Stakeholders, including regulators and innovators like Nilekani, must come together through pilots and consultations to address these questions. For deeper insights, refer to Nilekani’s whitepapers on UEI and CERC’s market coupling guidelines.

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