Google Signs Major Indian Carbon Credit Deal

Google has agreed to purchase 1 million carbon credits from Indian climate-tech startup Mitti Labs through 2030. The four-year agreement covers rice farms across the Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, expanding to about 100,000 hectares at peak delivery. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The contract is the largest publicly announced agreement to date for credits generated from cutting methane emissions in rice cultivation. Mitti Labs pays farmers to shorten the time rice paddies stay flooded, which cuts methane emissions by about 50% and irrigation water use by about 40% without hurting crop yields. Over the past two years, the startup's projects have saved more than 500 billion liters of water across a network of over 100,000 farmers.

The initiative supports Google's goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 as its energy needs climb due to artificial-intelligence infrastructure investments. According to its environmental report released in June, Google saw greenhouse gas emissions increase 18% year-over-year in 2025 to roughly 14.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The agreement follows Google's January 2025 purchase of 100,000 tons of biochar carbon credits from Gurugram-based Varaha. In addition, Google has contracted 300 megawatts of total solar capacity with ReNew in Rajasthan, including a recent 150-megawatt solar project agreement to address supply-chain emissions.