Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023
The Ministry of Power notified the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023 whereby the governance of Indian Carbon Market and direct oversight of its functioning will be done by the National Steering Committee for Indian Carbon Market
1. The National Steering Committee shall recommend to Bureau the following functions:
- for the formulation and finalisation of procedures for institutionalizing the Indian carbon market;
- for the formulation and finalisation of the rules and regulations for the functions of Indian carbon market;
- for the formulation of specific greenhouse gases emission targets for the obligated entities;
- for the formulation and finalisation of guidelines regarding trading of carbon credit certificates outside India;
- to issue carbon credit certificate;
- for the development of the process or conditions for crediting period or renewal or expiry of carbon credit certificate;
- to monitor the functions of Indian carbon market;
- to constitute any Committee or Working group as required in connection with Indian carbon market; and
- any other functions assigned to it by the Central Government.
2. The Chairperson shall call the meeting at least once in a quarter of every year.
The bureau, in its role as administrator, will carry out the following tasks:
(a) to identify sectors and potential for reduction of greenhouse gases emissions in such sectors and recommend to the Ministry of Power to include such sectors in Indian carbon market;
(b) to develop trajectory and targets for the entities under compliance mechanism;
(c) to issue the carbon credits certificate based on the recommendation of the National Steering Committee for Indian carbon market and subsequent approval of the Central Government;
(d) to develop market stability mechanism for carbon credits;
(e) to develop the procedure for accreditation and functions of accredited carbon verification agency;
(f) to accredit the agencies in accordance with the approved procedure for accredited carbon verification agency;
(g) to determine, the fees and charges payable by the registered entities with the approval of Central Government, for the purposes of meeting the cost and expense towards the implementation of this Scheme;
(h) to develop the process or conditions for crediting period or renewal or expiry of carbon credit certificates;
(i) to develop data submission formats, forms for effective functioning of Indian carbon market;
(j) to undertake capacity building activities for the stakeholders;
(k) to develop and maintain the information technology infrastructure including the user guidance platform required for Indian carbon market;
(l) to maintain secure database with all security protocols as approved by the Central Government;
(m) to constitute any Committee or working group as recommended by the National Steering Committee for Indian carbon market; and
(n) any other functions assigned to it by the Central Government.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission as a regulator to Indian Carbon Market shall perform the following functions:
(a) to regulate matters relating to trading of carbon credit certificates;
(b) to safeguard interest of both sellers and buyers;
(c) to regulate frequency of carbon credit certificates trading; and
(d) to provide market oversight and take necessary preventive and corrective actions to prevent fraud or mistrust
The Bureau shall constitute, one or more Technical Committees for different areas as required under compliance mechanism for the purposes of this Scheme
The Bureau with prior approval of the Central Government shall determine the procedure including eligibility criteria for accreditation of any agency to function as accredited carbon verification agency based on the recommendation of the National Steering Committee for Indian carbon market
The sectors and the obligated entities to be covered under the compliance mechanism shall be decided by the Ministry of Power based on recommendations of the Bureau;
The sectors and the obligated entities to be covered under the compliance mechanism shall be decided by the Ministry of Power based on recommendations of the Bureau
The National Steering Committee for Indian carbon market and other authorities shall develop the detailed procedure for operationalising the Indian carbon market, in accordance with this Scheme. The detailed procedure shall contain the following, namely: –
- criteria for issuance of carbon credit certificates;
- validity of carbon credit certificates;
- floor and forbearance price of carbon credit certificates;
- requirement, format and timeline for submissions;
- monitoring, reporting and verification; and
- any other related and incidental matters.
The Bureau may, from time to time, issue such directions and orders to the registered entities, with the approval of the Central Government, as considered appropriate for the implementation of this Scheme.
