India’s electricity market is poised for a significant reform, with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) proposing a framework to formally introduce Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs)—a move that could reshape how large energy consumers fulfill their renewable obligations and participate in power trading.

The draft Power Market Regulations, 2025, released this week, would officially recognize VPPAs as a new class of over-the-counter (OTC) financial contracts. Unlike traditional power purchase agreements where buyers take physical delivery of electricity, a VPPA enables a financial settlement between a buyer and a renewable power generator based on a pre-agreed price, while the actual electricity is sold into the open market.

A new class of deep-pocketed investors—mostly state-owned energy companies from the Gulf—is aggressively reshaping the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) landscape, injecting billions of dollars into a sector once dominated by Western oil majors. These firms, backed by sovereign wealth and long-term strategic ambitions, are moving quickly to lock in their place in a market that has become central to the global energy transition.

The pivot comes as LNG, though still smaller than oil in the global energy mix, gains momentum as a “transition fuel” that complements the rise of intermittent renewable energy sources. Rising demand, fueled by both developing economies and energy security concerns in Europe and Asia, is driving the race to build and expand export capacity.

The United States is increasingly leaning toward maintaining elevated tariffs on several Southeast Asian nations amid rising evidence that China is rerouting exports through the region to evade U.S. duties.

Despite ongoing trade talks, analysts note that the U.S. could ultimately settle on an average tariff of 15.5% for Southeast Asian countries. This would reflect growing frustration in Washington over what it views as deliberate transshipment practices by Chinese firms—using third countries to repackage or lightly modify products and then exporting them to the U.S. under different origin labels.