India Launches Carbon Market Portal with Trading to Begin in Four Months

India unveiled the Indian Carbon Market Portal, a centralized platform to implement the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme covering registration, monitoring, reporting, and verification of emissions across participating industries. Union Power Minister Manohar Lal announced that formal carbon credit trading will commence on the platform within the next four months.

India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, established in 2023, covers 490 large industrial units across seven energy-intensive sectors assigned Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity targets by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Companies that outperform their targets earn Carbon Credit Certificates, while underperformers must purchase them on the market. The scheme also includes a voluntary offset market open to all entities, with nine methodologies currently available covering biogas, hydrogen, and forestry projects. Over 40 institutions have already registered on the portal and submitted projects.

India passed enabling legislation for a domestic carbon market in 2022, and the new portal represents the operational infrastructure to make the scheme functional. The launch is significant for Indian companies with exposure to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, as participation in a domestic carbon pricing regime could support CBAM compliance by demonstrating a carbon cost already embedded in production. The scheme's structure mirrors elements of major international carbon trading systems, with both compliance and voluntary market components.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency will oversee the CCTS portal, with all participants required to register and have emissions and compliance obligations assessed on the platform. Surplus carbon certificates can be traded directly through the system. Minister Lal framed the market as an incentive mechanism aligned with India's traditional values of balance with nature, while also supporting the country's ambition to reach carbon neutrality. With trading set to begin in approximately four months, the market is expected to generate meaningful price signals for Indian industrial emitters.

Key figure — 490 large industrial units across 7 sectors in the compliance market