India to Get First Digital Carbon Marketplace for Distributed Clean Energy Projects

The Global Carbon Council (GCC) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish India’s first digital carbon marketplace aimed at supporting household-level clean energy and livelihood projects. The initiative will operate under TERI’s flagship LaBL 2.0 (Lighting a Billion Livelihoods) program, which focuses on expanding decentralized renewable energy access in rural and underserved communities.

The agreement was formalized by GCC Founding Chairman Dr. Yousef Alhorr and TERI Director General Dr. Vibha Dhawan. The partnership aims to unlock carbon finance for distributed renewable energy (DRE) solutions such as solar lighting, clean cooking technologies and productive-use appliances used by households and small enterprises.

Through the collaboration, small-scale climate actions at the household level will be aggregated and converted into measurable, verified and tradable carbon credits. These credits can then be traded in international carbon markets, creating new financing streams for community-based clean energy projects.

As part of the initiative, GCC and TERI will explore building a fully digital Energy Access and Carbon Marketplace, or integrate LaBL 2.0 projects with GCC’s World Bank-supported ASCENT Energy Access Portal. The platform will use digital monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems to track emissions reductions and streamline the carbon credit generation process while ensuring transparency and environmental integrity.

Despite India sourcing more than half of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuels, millions of households still lack reliable clean energy access. The new marketplace is expected to improve the financial viability of rural energy projects while supporting women-led enterprises and micro-businesses.

According to GCC and TERI, the initiative could serve as a replicable model for other developing countries, demonstrating how digital carbon markets can link grassroots climate action with global climate finance.