Google signs its biggest rice-methane carbon credit deal with Indian startup Mitti Labs

Google has agreed to bargain 1 cardinal c credits from Indian climate-tech startup Mitti Labs done 2030, successful what the companies accidental is the largest publically announced woody to day for credits generated from cutting methane emissions successful atom farming.

The four-year statement volition screen atom farms crossed the Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, reaching astir 100,000 hectares astatine highest delivery, Mitti Labs co-founder Xavier Laguarta said successful an interview. Financial presumption were not disclosed.

The task volition wage farmers to follow practices that trim however agelong atom fields stay flooded, cutting methane released during cultivation portion besides reducing h2o use. Mitti Labs says the method tin chopped methane emissions by astir 50% and irrigation h2o usage by astir 40% without reducing harvest yields.

The woody comes arsenic Google faces the situation of reaching its extremity of going net-zero emissions by 2030 amid investing heavy successful artificial-intelligence infrastructure. Its greenhouse state emissions successful 2025 grew 18% year-over-year to astir 14.5 cardinal metric tons of c dioxide equivalent, per its environmental report (PDF) released successful June.

Mitti Labs began talks with Google astir a twelvemonth ago, Laguarta told TechCrunch, arsenic the tech institution explored adding methane-reduction projects to its carbon-credit portfolio. Google was drawn successful portion to the project’s h2o savings and Mitti Labs’ quality to run astatine scale, helium stated.

The startup’s projects person saved much than 500 cardinal liters of h2o implicit the past 2 years. The Google deal, Laguarta said, would let Mitti Labs to grow further, giving it the standard needed to enactment with ample firm buyers.

Mitti Labs’ Measurement Chamber astatine a Rice FarmImage Credits:Mitti Labs

“Having Google, 1 of the astir blase buyers successful the marketplace with rigorous owed diligence processes, is evidently a bully awesome for us,” Laguarta said, adding that the woody would let Mitti to standard significantly.

Google’s valuation included scrutiny of Mitti Labs’ monitoring exertion and visits to farms earlier the companies signed the agreement, Laguarta said. Founded successful 2023, the New York- and Bengaluru-based startup has built a GeoAI level that combines outer radar imagery with tract measurements to remotely way harvest growth, ungraded moisture and flooding crossed smallholder farms.

The level uses synthetic aperture radar imagery from commercialized and nationalist satellites, with resolutions ranging from 50 centimeters to 10 meters. Mitti besides uses proprietary information collected successful the tract to bid its AI models, Laguarta said.

The credits sold to Google tin beryllium issued nether either Gold Standard oregon Isometric, 2 carbon-credit certification bodies, Laguarta said. He added that the projects acquisition autarkic third-party verification arsenic portion of the certification process earlier credits are issued.

In summation to Google, Mitti Labs works with customers including c marketplace Cool Effect, atom shaper Ebro Foods, and cultivation institution Syngenta. Laguarta told TechCrunch that the Google statement is Mitti Labs’ largest offtake woody to date.

Mitti Labs presently works with much than 100,000 farmers and aims to person millions of farmers by 2030. The Google deal, Laguarta said, would assistance the startup determination toward that extremity by allowing it to grow its projects.

A bulk of the gross from the startup’s projects goes to farming communities, Laguarta noted. He declined to disclose however overmuch farmers participating successful the Google task would receive, however.

While the Google task is constricted to India, Mitti Labs plans to motorboat operations successful the Philippines aboriginal this twelvemonth and grow into Indonesia and different Southeast Asian markets successful 2027.

Laguarta sees country for the marketplace to turn arsenic much companies look to cultivation projects to tackle methane emissions. About 150 cardinal farmers turn atom crossed India, Southeast Asia, and China, helium told TechCrunch.

The woody with Mitti Labs is not Google’s archetypal carbon-removal concern successful India. In January 2025, the Mountain View, California-headquartered institution partnered with Gurugram-based Varaha to bargain 100,000 tons of c credits. That was Google’s archetypal large-scale acquisition of c removal credits successful the state and the largest involving biomass-produced biochar.

Google is besides turning to clean-energy projects successful India to code its supply-chain emissions. The institution has signed an statement tied to a 150-megawatt star task successful Rajasthan, taking its contracted star capableness with ReNew successful the authorities to 300 megawatts.