India Has Potential to Build $45 Billion Biochar Carbon Removal Market by 2030: Report
The report says that biochar will be effective in tackling air pollution, improve soil health, and generally durable carbon removal credits.
India has the potential to produce about 83 million tons (Mt) of biochar and deliver approximately 0.2 gigatons (Gt) of net carbon removal annually and to scale into $45 billion annual market by 2030, according to a new report by the Carbon Removal India Alliance (CRIA) and BioFlux.
The report stated that India can remove up to 0.45 gigatons (GT) of carbon dioxide annually through biochar by the end of the decade and the authors argued that this can be possible only though enabling policies, financing systems, and carbon markets are developed in parallel.
Biochar is a charcoal-like material produced by heating biomass such as agricultural residues in the absence of oxygen through a process called pyrolysis. When applied to soil or embedded in construction materials, the carbon can remain stored for hundreds to thousands of years.
According to the report, biochar is one of the promising and immediately deployable carbon removal pathways for India as it can address the issues like crop residue burning, declining soil fertility, and rural livelihood challenges.
India generates nearly 754 million tonnes of crop residue every year, and most of it remains underutilised or is openly burned, contributing to air pollution. The report estimated that 87 billion tonnes of biomass are openly burned annually.
Biochar’s Gains for Soil and Agriculture
The report said that diverting surplus biomass into biochar production could reduce particulate pollution as well as creating a durable carbon sink and improving agricultural productivity. The report also highlighted that biochar deployment can help improve soil water retention, lower fertiliser use, reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soil, and higher crop yields in degraded land.
The report also highlighted the health gains from reducing crop residue burning, especially in northern India where seasonal biomass burning contributes to PM2.5 pollution.
The report also pointed out that the demand for durable carbon dioxide removal credits has been rising rapidly. The contracted demand for biochar carbon removal credits crossed 3 million tonnes between 2022 and mid-2025, with biochar accounting for nearly 80-90% of durable carbon removal credits delivered globally,
Need for Policy and Financing Support
The report said scaling the sector would require stronger domestic demand, better monitoring and verification systems, financing support or industrial scale facilities, and clearer policy frameworks around carbon markets.
The report also warned that biochar projects could face competition for biomass feedstock from sectors such as biomass power generation, biofuels and biomass pellets, making feedstock allocation and supply chain planning critical for its advancement.
The report recommended integrating biochar into India’s existing policy frameworks such as National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, crop residue management schemes, and the country's carbon credit trading systems.
Last year, CarbonCopy also looked at how biochar is emerging as a carbon removal solution in India where we explored how pastoral nomads in Kachchh are earning carbon credits through ploughing charcoal back into the grasslands in the form of biochar and how global south is a key source of growth for biochar carbon credits.