New Delhi: India is going to launch its carbon market likely by the middle of 2026, said Minister for Power Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday. Interacting with the media at a press conference, the minister said, “Very soon we are going to launch an independent carbon market of our country… likely by mid-2026. Under this programme, one who uses fossil fuel or emits carbon dioxide would have to buy carbon credits and those who would use power from non-fossil sources would have carbon credits which they call sell in the market.”
A carbon market in India will help industries, especially exporters, to meet the emission norms mandated by several countries through purchase of carbon credits. Measures like the European Union’s (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes tariffs on carbon-intensive products, have left exporters in India concerned. The market is expected to make it costly for industries to continue to emit carbon, thereby using a market-based mechanism to drive a shift towards green energy.
“So, the market for sale and purchase of carbon credit which is not there in our country now, will be launched in 2026. Through this our industries will also be able to grow as several countries have decided that in coming years they would import only the products made through power from non-fossil sources and we will be export only those products,” said Khattar.
“Therefore, the industry also needs to ensure that they go more towards non-fossil sources and reduce use fossil source-based power…Therefore, we are preparing them for the carbon market,” he added.