IGX strengthens its position in India’s natural gas market IGX reported a CAGR of 58.6% in traded gas volumes between FY22 and FY26 Highest traded volume was seen in July 2026, up 180.09% YoY and 42.05% MoM But was this a one-time thing , or the result of improving market participation over the past few months? Let's find out.

IGX Trade Volume Highest In July. What Happened?

In July 26, IGX traded at a gas volume of 11.64 million MMBtu (293.21 MMSCM), which is a strong monthly performance with a jump of 180% year-on-year and 42.05% month-on-month growth. With a total 283 trades executed, July witnessed much higher market participation.

Domestic HPHT gas contributed 57% of the traded volume with the remaining 43% coming from free-market gas. IGX also executed its first trade at the Shahdol delivery point taking the network to 19 delivery points which will aid trading and promote participation on the exchange.​

July 2026 Operating Highlights

Higher Prices Didn't Slow Trading

One of the interesting trends in July was that gas prices and trading volumes increased together. The GIXI benchmark climbed to Rs.1,837/MMBtu, up 79.73% from a year ago. At the same time, traded volumes reached a record 11.64 million MMBtu. The strong trading activity indicates that demand remained healthy, despite a rise in prices.

Monthly Trading Trend (Jan-Jul 2026)

Source: IGX Market Data

The volatility was seen during the first quarter of 2026 in the monthly trend before recovering strongly from April onwards. The traded volume nearly doubled in April to 8.54 million MMBtu. Also, despite a temporary moderation in June, it crossed 10 million MMBtu in May. Hence, volumes hit a high of 11.64 million MMBtu in July. This can be a sign of better liquidity and stable demand in the gas market.

Why Did Volumes Increase So Sharply in July 2026?

1. Strong demand from City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies

In July, CGD companies remained the primary buyers, leading to an increase in gas purchases for CNG and PNG distribution. Here, the constant demand played a key role in helping to increase traded volumes to a record 11.64 million MMBtu.

2. Higher domestic gas availability boosted market participation

Domestic HPHT gas contributed 57% of July's traded volume. At the same time, 23.72 MMSCM of gas with flexible pricing was traded across locations like Hazira, Jaya, Shahdol, Bokaro, and Suvali. The increased availability of domestic gas could likely encourage more producers and buyers to use IGX, which helped increase trading activity and volumes.​

3. Expansion of gas trading infrastructure

India aims to increase natural gas' share in the energy mix from around 6% to 15%, which is expected to support higher gas trading through exchanges in the future.

4. Rise in physical gas deliveries

The quality of trading also improved. Physical gas deliveries reached 9.79 million MMBtu. This could show that the proportion of trades resulted in actual gas delivery instead of just financial transactions. Therefore, it shows growing confidence among market participants in using IGX.

5. Trading Momentum built over the previous months  

July's record performance was not an isolated event. It was backed by improving trading activity over recent months. The trend has already been discussed in detail previously under monthly trading. Hence, around 42.05% MoM growth in July was seen. This trend indicates that improving market participation and stronger gas demand had been building over several months.

Conclusion

July 2026 was positive for IGX, with a 180% YoY and 42% monthly increase in traded volume. Also, the new delivery point indicates that exchange gas trading is gaining traction in India. The positive indicators could be seen as traded volume has grown continuously, which helps improve liquidity and also increases transaction fee income. Overall, if these trading volumes continue to rise in the coming quarters, then they could likely lead to stronger growth in IGX unlisted shares.