India's First Soil Carbon Payments: ₹2.9 Crore Reaches 2,550 Farmers, and the Voluntary Carbon Market Finally Pays the Farm

On 17 September 2026 the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare announced that over ₹2.9 crore had been transferred by Direct Benefit Transfer to 2,550 smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana as payment for soil carbon stored and greenhouse gases avoided on their fields — the first time Indian farmers have been paid for carbon sequestered in their own soil. The transfer was made at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, by Dr M. L. Jat, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Individual payments ranged from about ₹3,000 to ₹15,000, covering roughly 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits issued under the Verra VM0042 methodology.