While global ESG momentum faces headwinds, with the U.S.’s past withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the EU narrowing the scope of the CSRD, India emerges as one of the first countries to notify sector-specific GEI benchmarks, ensuring structured industrial accountability and emissions transparency.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released the draft Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity (GEI) Target Rules, 2025. These rules are significant in India’s decarbonization efforts, setting clear emission intensity targets for key industries to reduce their carbon footprint.

Key Objectives:

1. To contribute to the attainment of the Nationally Determined Contribution by reducing GEI.
2. Promote the adoption of sustainable, cutting-edge technologies across traditionally high-emission industries.

Key Provisions Under the GEI Rules:

1. The GEI Rules set emission intensity targets that entities must comply with.
2. Missed targets must be compensated through carbon credit certificates, either purchased or banked.
3. Entities must register on the Indian Carbon Market Portal (ICM) and submit compliance data.
4. Entities that fail to meet targets will be liable to pay environmental compensation equivalent to twice the average carbon credit price of that year.
5. Targets have been published for the aluminium, cement, Chlor-Alkali, Pulp & Paper sectors, expressed in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e) per tonne of product.

Issuance of Carbon Credit Certificates:

1. The Bureau will issue carbon credit certificates based on the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023.
2. The number of certificates issued will be calculated as:
   (GEI Target – GEI Achieved) × Unit of equivalent product produced.
3. The number of certificates to be purchased for shortfalls will be:
   (GEI Achieved – GEI Target) × Unit of equivalent product produced.
4. Issued or purchased certificates may be banked according to the Bureau’s Detailed Procedure.

This is more than a regulatory measure; it is an opportunity to establish a credible carbon economy, aligning India’s growth trajectory with its sustainable development goals.

Objections or suggestions, if any, may be sent to the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jor Bagh Road, New Delhi – 110003, or emailed to ccts.hsm-moefcc@gov.in within 60 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.