Government Expands Carbon Market Targets to 208 More Industries

The Indian government has widened the scope of its Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) by notifying Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity (GEI) targets for 208 additional carbon-intensive industries, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Under this expansion, sectors such as Petroleum Refineries, Petrochemicals, Textiles, and Secondary Aluminium are now part of the compliance framework of the Indian Carbon Market (ICM). These industries must adhere to specified emission intensity reduction targets as per the notified norms.

With the inclusion of these sectors, the carbon market’s compliance mechanism now covers 490 obligated entities — a significant increase from earlier coverage. Previously, in October 2025, GEI targets were set for Aluminium, Cement, Chlor-Alkali, and Pulp & Paper sectors, involving 282 entities.

The Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, introduced in 2023, aims to cut or avoid greenhouse gas emissions across the economy by assigning a carbon price through tradable carbon credit certificates. The scheme works on two fronts:

• Compliance Mechanism — Industries must meet assigned GEI targets.
• Offset Mechanism — Credits earned by outperforming targets can be traded with those entities that fall short.