CCTS targets are live. Where does your plant stand?

Named plants in eight sectors have a target for tonnes of CO2e per tonne of product, measured against 2023-24. Beat it and the plant earns carbon credit certificates; miss it and it buys them. Indian firms with no target can earn offset credits from a registered project.

488 plants have a target, 255 more in a draft

• Iron and steel: 255 plants, proposed in G.S.R. 517(E). Proposed in a June 2026 draft, for 2026-27 only.
• Cement: 186 plants, named in G.S.R. 739(E). Six sub-sectors, including 55 grinding units.
• Textiles: 173 plants, named in G.S.R. 25(E). Spinning, processing, fibre and composite units.
• Pulp and paper: 51 plants, named in G.S.R. 739(E). Integrated, recycled fibre, agro based and speciality mills.
• Chlor-alkali: 30 plants, named in G.S.R. 739(E). Power for electrolysis is most of the number.
• Petroleum refineries: 21 plants, named in G.S.R. 25(E). Per unit of throughput, adjusted for complexity.
• Aluminium: 13 plants, named in G.S.R. 739(E). Smelters named one by one in the schedule.
• Petrochemical crackers: 11 plants, named in G.S.R. 25(E). Gas or naphtha crackers, or both.
• Secondary aluminium: 3 plants, named in G.S.R. 25(E). Most remelters are not on the list.

Your target is per tonne of product, not a cap

Certificates = (target intensity minus achieved intensity) × equivalent output. One certificate is one tonne of CO2e. Example from the October 2025 schedule: one Portland pozzolana cement plant in Karnataka has a baseline of 0.4455, a 2025-26 target of 0.444 and a 2026-27 target of 0.4402 t CO2e per tonne of equivalent product. A plant that does not file is counted at its baseline.

One compliance year, start to finish

1. Monitoring plan. When: Within 3 months of the year starting. Sources, meters, sampling points, data flow and who is responsible. BEE reviews and approves it. What goes in the plan
2. Monitor fuel, power, process and output. When: All year. Purchased power uses the grid factor of your baseline year, frozen. A cleaner grid does not help you. The frozen grid factor
3. Form A, verified. When: Within 4 months of the year ending. A carbon verification agency accredited by BEE checks your emission intensity before it counts. Who can verify
4. Certificates issued or owed. When: After BEE and NSC-ICM review. Beat the target and certificates land in the Grid-India registry. Miss it and you owe the gap. How the gap is counted
5. Sell, bank or buy. When: Trading sessions. Under BEE's October 2026 draft: power exchanges only, in closed auctions with one clearing price a session. No bilateral deals, even inside a group. How trading works
6. Environmental compensation. When: If the gap stays open. Imposed by the Central Pollution Control Board after a hearing, payable within 90 days. The penalty rule

No target? Five gates to offset credits

1. Did the project start cutting emissions on or after 1 January 2025? If not: BEE takes no projects that started earlier. Verra or Gold Standard may still accept it. The start date rule
2. Does one of the 12 approved methodologies fit it? If not: Without an approved methodology a project cannot register, even in an open sector. Biochar was not on the July 2026 list. The approved list
3. Does it go beyond what a law or permit already makes you do? If not: Projects the law requires earn nothing. Only reductions beyond business as usual count. The regulatory surplus rule
4. Is it run by an Indian firm with no CCTS target? If not: Only Indian non-obligated firms register offset projects. Plants with targets use the compliance side. CCTS offsets or Verra and Gold Standard
5. Will two different accredited agencies check it, one to validate and one to verify? If not: The agency that verifies must be different from the one that validated, for every crediting period. Why they must differ

Then seven steps: Open an account on the ICM portal; Write the project design document; Publish it for 30 days of comments; Validation by an accredited agency; Registration with BEE; Monitor for a ten-year fixed period, or five years renewable twice; Verification by a different agency, then credits issued.

The 12 approved methodologies

• BM EN01.001: Grid-connected renewable power
• BM EN01.002: Green hydrogen from electrolysis
• BM EN01.003: Power and heat from biomass
• BM IN02.001: Factory efficiency and fuel switch
• BM IN02.002: Hydrogen from biogas
• BM WA03.001: Landfill methane recovery
• BM WA03.002: Landfill gas flared or used
• BM WA03.003: Compressed biogas
• BM AG04.001: Household and small farm biogas
• BM AG04.002: Rice cultivation
• BM FR05.001: Mangrove planting
• BM FR05.002: Afforestation on non-wetland

Not sure the CCTS is your market? Find your route into carbon credits in India. Running a farm or biochar project? How a removal project keeps its record.

Your exact question, answered

Is my plant covered?

• How many plants have greenhouse gas intensity targets under India's CCTS?
• Is my cement plant covered by India's carbon credit trading scheme?
• How many cement plants have CCTS targets, and in which sub-sectors?
• Is my textile mill covered by India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme?
• How many textile units have CCTS targets, and in which sub-sectors?
• Is a paper mill covered by India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme?
• Which pulp and paper mills have CCTS targets, and in which sub-sectors?
• Is my chlor-alkali plant covered by India's carbon credit trading scheme?
• Is a petroleum refinery covered by India's carbon credit trading scheme?
• Is my petrochemical plant covered by India's carbon credit trading scheme?
• Which petrochemical plants have CCTS emission intensity targets?
• Does an Angul aluminium smelter have an emission intensity target under India's CCTS?
• Is my aluminium recycling or remelting unit covered by CCTS?
• What do India's draft CCTS targets for iron and steel plants say?
• Do sponge iron and steel plants in Raipur and Durg have CCTS emission intensity targets yet?
• Is a ceramic tile or sanitaryware unit an obligated entity under India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme?
• Is a glass or glassware unit an obligated entity under India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme?
• What will a CCTS obligated plant ask its MSME suppliers for?

How is my target counted?

• How many carbon credit certificates does a CCTS plant earn or have to buy?
• Which emissions are left out of a CCTS plant's emission intensity?
• Which grid emission factor does a CCTS obligated plant use for purchased electricity?
• How is India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme different from the EU ETS?
• What happens to the PAT scheme and ESCerts now that India has the CCTS?

What do we file, and who checks it?

• When must a CCTS obligated plant submit its monitoring plan, and what goes in it?
• What monitoring, reporting and verification does a CCTS obligated entity need, and who can verify?
• Does a CCTS obligated plant need a long-term emission reduction plan?
• Who can verify a CCTS project or compliance report in India, and how does an agency get accredited?
• Which agencies are accredited to verify under India's CCTS?
• What does an agency need to become a CCTS Accredited Carbon Verification Agency?
• How much does CCTS verification agency accreditation cost and how long does it last?

What if we miss, or do not file?

• What happens if an obligated plant misses its CCTS emission intensity target?
• What is the penalty if a CCTS plant does not surrender enough certificates?
• What happens if an obligated CCTS plant does not submit its documents?

How do certificates trade?

• How will CCTS carbon credit certificates trade on India's power exchanges?
• Can CCTS carbon credit certificates be banked for future years?
• Can a company that is not obligated under CCTS buy Indian carbon credit certificates for its own claims?
• Can carbon credit certificates issued under India's CCTS be sold to foreign buyers?
• Does India's CCTS count as a qualifying carbon price under the UK CBAM?
• Our plant met its CCTS target. Does our UK buyer get carbon price relief?
• What is the difference between retiring and cancelling a CCTS carbon credit?
• Can a green hydrogen certificate be used to claim CCTS carbon credits or be transferred?

Can my project earn offset credits?

• Can an MSME earn carbon credit certificates under India's CCTS offset mechanism?
• Is a CCTS offset project worth the cost for a small factory?
• Should an Indian project register under the CCTS offset mechanism or with Verra or Gold Standard?
• Which sectors are approved for the CCTS offset mechanism in phase 1 and phase 2?
• Which methodologies has BEE approved under India's CCTS offset mechanism?
• Can a project that started before 2025 earn credits under India's CCTS offset mechanism?
• Can a project required by law earn CCTS offset credits?
• Can a biochar project earn credits under India's CCTS yet?

How do I register and run a project?

• What are the steps to register a carbon offset project under India's CCTS?
• What goes in a CCTS offset project design document for a factory project?
• How much does it cost to register a project and get credits under India's CCTS offset mechanism?
• How long is the crediting period for a CCTS offset project in India?
• Can several small projects be grouped into one CCTS offset project?
• Can the same agency validate and verify a CCTS offset project?
• What metering and calibration rules apply to a CCTS offset project's monitoring plan?
• What must a factory measure and keep to monitor a BM IN02.001 energy efficiency or fuel switch project?
• Is there a deadline to claim CCTS offset credits after the monitoring period?
• Can a CCTS offset project be deregistered, and what happens to its credits?

Which methodology fits?

• Which factory projects qualify under CCTS methodology BM IN02.001, and which are excluded?
• Can a solar or wind power plant earn CCTS credits under BM EN01.001?
• How does a green hydrogen plant earn CCTS credits under BM EN01.002?
• Can a factory biomass boiler or cogeneration plant earn CCTS credits under BM EN01.003, and what biomass is allowed?
• Which projects qualify under CCTS methodology BM IN02.002 for hydrogen from biogas?
• What does CCTS methodology BM WA03.001 cover for landfill methane?
• Which landfill gas projects qualify under CCTS methodology BM WA03.002?
• How does a compressed biogas (CBG) plant earn CCTS credits under BM WA03.003?
• Can household or small farm biogas digesters earn CCTS credits under BM AG04.001?
• Which rice farms can earn CCTS credits under methodology BM AG04.002?
• Can mangrove planting earn CCTS credits under methodology BM FR05.001?
• Which land can be planted for CCTS credits under methodology BM FR05.002?

How do BEE's calculation tools work?

• How does BEE's tool BM-T-001 decide a CCTS project's baseline and additionality?
• How does the common practice test work in BEE's CCTS additionality tool BM-T-001?
• How does CCTS tool BM-T-002 calculate emissions from fuel a project burns?
• Which grid emission factor does a CCTS offset project use for electricity saved or consumed under BM-T-003?
• What flare efficiency does CCTS tool BM-T-004 allow for methane flaring?
• How do you measure methane flow in biogas or flare gas for a CCTS offset project?
• How do I set the baseline efficiency of an old boiler or furnace for a CCTS offset project (BM-T-006)?
• How much methane leakage must a biogas digester deduct under CCTS tool BM-T-008?
• What emissions does CCTS tool BM-T-010 count when a project uses biomass?
• How does CCTS count methane from waste sent to, or kept out of, a dump site?
• What emissions must a composting project deduct under CCTS tool BM-T-013?
• How does BEE tool BM-T-014 split emissions between a main product and co-products in a CCTS project?
• How do you prove an old machine's remaining lifetime for a CCTS offset project?

Planting trees or mangroves?

• Can a CCTS afforestation project count dead wood and litter without measuring them?
• Do CCTS afforestation credits shrink if farming moves elsewhere because of the project?
• How does a fire on a CCTS afforestation project affect its credits?
• How much soil carbon can a CCTS afforestation project claim under tool BM-T-AR-0006?
• How does sampling uncertainty cut tree carbon credits in a CCTS afforestation project?

Short answers

What is the CCTS?

India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023. It has two parts. The compliance mechanism gives named plants a target for tonnes of CO2e per tonne of product. The offset mechanism lets Indian firms without a target earn credits from registered projects.

How many plants have CCTS targets?

488 plants have notified targets: 280 from October 2025 (aluminium, cement, chlor-alkali, pulp and paper) and 208 from January 2026 (secondary aluminium, refineries, petrochemicals, textiles). A June 2026 draft proposes 255 iron and steel plants.

How are carbon credit certificates counted?

Target intensity minus achieved intensity, times the plant's equivalent output for the year. A positive result is certificates earned; a negative one is certificates to buy. One certificate is one tonne of CO2e.

Is the CCTS a cap like the EU ETS?

No. The EU ETS caps total emissions. The CCTS sets a target per tonne of product, so a growing plant can raise its total emissions and still comply.

Can an MSME earn CCTS credits?

Only through the offset mechanism, with a project that started on or after 1 January 2025, fits one of BEE's 12 approved methodologies, goes beyond what the law requires, and is checked by two different accredited agencies.

Does a CCTS plant need data from its suppliers?

The rules ask nothing of suppliers: a plant's target covers its own gate-to-gate emissions. Plants still ask suppliers for energy use per unit, fuel type and cleaner inputs when they look for cuts.

If you supply a plant with a target

• Monthly electricity and fuel use, with the invoices
• Energy or emissions per tonne of what you supply
• Grid, captive or renewable power
• Plans to switch fuel or cut energy use

Upload a bill and see its CO2 with the factor behind it. Senseible is not part of the CCTS process: an accredited agency verifies and BEE issues.