Google has agreed to purchase 1 million carbon credits from Indian climate-tech startup Mitti Labs through 2030, in what the companies describe as the largest publicly announced deal to date for credits generated by reducing methane emissions from rice farming. The four-year agreement will support Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) across rice farms in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, covering more than 100,000 hectares at peak delivery.
Key Overview
- Google will purchase 1 million carbon credits from Mitti Labs through 2030.
- The project will reach about 100,000 hectares of rice farms at peak delivery.
- More than 70,000 farmers will be encouraged to adopt AWD.
- AWD can reduce methane emissions by about 50% and irrigation water use by close to 40% without reducing yields.
- The project is expected to deliver 3 million tonnes of near-term warming impact reductions under GWP20, equivalent to 1 million tonnes under GWP100.
- Mitti Labs projects have saved more than 500 billion litres of water over the past two years.
- Google aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030.
Google Expands Carbon Credit Purchase Through Rice Farming
Google has agreed to buy 1 million carbon credits from Mitti Labs through 2030, supporting projects designed to reduce methane emissions from rice farming in India.
The four-year agreement will cover rice farms across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, reaching approximately 100,000 hectares at peak delivery, according to Mitti Labs co-founder Xavier Laguarta.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The project will encourage farmers to adopt Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), an irrigation practice that reduces the amount of time rice fields remain flooded. The approach is intended to reduce methane released during rice cultivation while also reducing water use.
According to Mitti Labs, AWD can cut methane emissions by about 50% and irrigation water use by about 40%, without sacrificing crop yields.
The new agreement is described by the companies as the largest publicly announced deal to date for carbon credits generated from methane reductions in rice farming.
AWD Targets Methane and Water Savings
Under the programme, more than 70,000 farmers will be encouraged to adopt AWD. Rather than keeping rice paddies continuously flooded, farmers periodically drain and reflood the fields.
Mitti Labs says the practice disrupts the oxygen-depleted soil conditions that generate methane.
The partnership is expected to enable more than 100,000 hectares of rice fields to shift to AWD by 2030. The companies estimate the programme will deliver the equivalent of 1 million tonnes of CO₂e removal under the conventional 100-year global warming potential metric (GWP100), or 3 million tonnes based on the 20-year metric (GWP20).
The programme is also expected to save 1.5 trillion liters of water.
Mitti Labs uses an AI-powered geospatial platform combining satellite radar imagery with field data to monitor crop conditions, soil moisture and flooding at the individual farm level.
The startup says its monitoring technology is intended to make methane reductions measurable across large agricultural areas. It uses commercial and government satellite data, with resolutions ranging from 50 centimeters to 10 meters, alongside field measurements.
Google Faces Rising Emissions
The agreement comes as Google works toward its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030 while investing heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
According to Google’s 2025 environmental report, the company’s greenhouse gas emissions increased 18% year-over-year to about 14.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Google has been expanding its efforts to address emissions through carbon removal and other climate initiatives. The company recently committed to spending at least $50 million by 2030 on projects designed to eliminate emissions from methane, fluorinated gases and other non-CO₂ greenhouse gases through its Superpollutant Action Initiative.
The Mitti Labs agreement represents Google’s largest superpollutant elimination deal to date.
Google Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt said the company sees the partnership as a way to address near-term warming while conserving water and supporting farmers in adopting improved water-management practices.
“Google is committed to finding the most promising solutions that neutralize warming across both the near and long term.”
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Mitti Labs Expands Climate Technology
Mitti Labs was founded in 2023 and has headquarters in New York and Bengaluru. The company provides solutions using AI, satellite technology and field operations to reduce methane emissions from rice farming.
Its projects have helped save more than 500 billion liters of water over the past two years. The startup already works with more than 100,000 farmers and plans to increase that number to several million by 2030.
Most revenue from its projects is directed to farming communities, although the specific size of payments under the Google agreement has not been disclosed.
Mitti Labs carbon credits can be certified under the Gold Standard or Isometric standards, with independent third parties verifying them before issuance.
The company raised $9.5 million in a Series A funding last month in a round led by Aramco Ventures, with participation from Lightspeed India, Godrej Industries Group, Cisco Foundation, Francis Family Fund and Volta Circle.
Expansion Beyond India
The current Google agreement covers India, while Mitti Labs plans to expand its operations elsewhere in Asia.
The startup plans to begin operations in the Philippines by the end of 2026 and enter Indonesia and other Southeast Asian markets in 2027.
Mitti Labs already works with more than 100,000 farmers and intends to scale its operations significantly by 2030.
The company’s other partners include carbon credit trading platform Cool Effect, rice producer Ebro Foods and agricultural company Syngenta.
Google also reached an agreement with Indian company Varaha in January 2025 to purchase 100,000 tons of carbon credits and is investing in clean energy, including through an agreement on a 150-megawatt solar project in Rajasthan.
Outlook
The agreement gives Mitti Labs an opportunity to expand its methane-reduction and water-conservation technology across Indian rice farms while providing Google with carbon credits from projects targeting near-term warming.
For farmers, the programme focuses on adopting AWD to reduce methane emissions and irrigation water use without sacrificing yields. The companies expect the project to reach more than 100,000 hectares by 2030, while saving an estimated 1.5 trillion litres of water and delivering emissions reductions measured under both 20-year and 100-year global warming potential metrics.
FAQs
1. How many carbon credits will Google purchase from Mitti Labs?
Google has agreed to purchase 1 million carbon credits from Mitti Labs through 2030 under a four-year agreement.
2. Where will the carbon credit project be implemented?
The project will cover rice farms across the Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, reaching about 100,000 hectares at peak delivery.
3. How does the project reduce methane emissions?
The project promotes Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), which periodically drains and refloods rice fields instead of keeping them continuously flooded. Mitti Labs says the practice can reduce methane emissions by about 50% and irrigation water use by close to 40% without reducing yields.
4. How much water is the project expected to save?
The companies expect the agreement to enable the equivalent of 1.5 trillion litres of water savings while delivering emissions reductions through the adoption of AWD across rice farms.
Sources: TechCrunch, Carbon Herald, ESG Today, Mezha
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