en.Wedoany.com Reported - Microsoft has signed a purchase agreement with Indian carbon removal startup Alt Carbon to buy 36,920 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal credits, to be delivered from the Darjeeling Revival Project in eastern India by 2029 at the latest. Microsoft has the option to purchase additional volumes if Alt Carbon meets delivery and verification milestones.
Earlier reports suggested Microsoft had paused some carbon removal procurement plans, but the company denied these claims, stating it remains committed to its climate goals while refining its sustainability strategy. The deal is significant for Alt Carbon, a Bengaluru-based startup founded in 2023 that focuses on carbon removal projects including enhanced rock weathering. This technology involves spreading crushed basalt and other silicate rocks on farmland to accelerate natural chemical reactions that help store carbon dioxide. Alt Carbon sources basalt from the Rajmahal Traps in eastern India and deploys it on farmland in West Bengal, where the rock reacts with rainwater and atmospheric carbon dioxide to form stable bicarbonates.
Sparsh Agarwal, co-founder and president of Alt Carbon, told TechCrunch that discussions with Microsoft began in early 2025 and concluded after more than a year of extensive scientific review, due diligence, and contract negotiations. Microsoft also required additional monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) measures beyond registration requirements, including expanded data sharing and carbon quantification protocols. The deal comes amid a market where buyers are increasingly seeking verified carbon removal projects, with hundreds of startups promising to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but only a fraction delivering verified credits at commercial scale.
According to Agarwal, Alt Carbon has issued nearly 10,000 carbon removal credits through enhanced rock weathering to date, making it the largest issuer of such credits globally, and expects to issue another 15,000 credits by the end of this year. The company operates two carbon removal projects in northern West Bengal—one dedicated to Japanese shipping giant Mitsui OSK Lines, and a larger one supplying credits to Microsoft. Alt Carbon has expanded from tea plantations to rice-growing areas and now works with over 35,000 farmers covering approximately 80,000 acres of land. Credits under the Microsoft agreement will be issued through Isometric, a carbon removal registry that has developed an enhanced rock weathering methodology.
The transaction reflects the growing role of emerging market suppliers in the carbon removal sector. Agarwal noted that developers from the Global South currently account for about 26% of carbon removal credit issuances, up from roughly 2% in 2022. When Alt Carbon was founded two years ago, international buyers were often skeptical of Indian carbon projects, but growing issuance volumes and stricter verification standards have helped boost market confidence. This agreement is not Microsoft's first carbon removal investment in India; in January, the company signed a deal with another Indian startup, Varaha, to purchase over 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide removal credits generated through biochar over three years. According to registry data, Microsoft joins a list of buyers of Alt Carbon credits, including procurement alliances such as Frontier (whose members include Google, Stripe, and Shopify) and NextGen (backed by companies including UBS, Swiss Re, and Boston Consulting Group).
Agarwal said that as demand for verified carbon removal credits grows, Alt Carbon plans to expand its deployment area roughly fivefold from the current approximately 80,000 acres over the next four to five years. The company raised $12 million in a seed round last year led by tech investor Lachy Groom and has built its own MRV infrastructure, including laboratories in Bengaluru and Darjeeling for analyzing soil and water samples and quantifying carbon removal. Agarwal said improving verification capabilities and reducing measurement costs are critical for scaling enhanced rock weathering projects in India and beyond.
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