Google has agreed to buy 1 million carbon credits from Indian climate-tech startup Mitti Labs through 2030, in what the companies say is the largest publicly announced agreement for credits generated by reducing methane emissions from rice farming. The four-year project will cover farms across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, reaching about 100,000 hectares at peak delivery.
Farmers participating in the program will be paid to reduce the time their rice fields remain flooded. Mitti Labs says the farming method can cut methane emissions by about 50% and irrigation water use by roughly 40% without reducing crop yields.
Google Expands Its Carbon Credit Portfolio
The companies began discussions about a year ago as Google considered adding methane-reduction projects to its carbon-credit portfolio. Mitti Labs said in its official announcement that the agreement will deliver 1 million credits by 2030, while financial terms were not disclosed.
Google evaluated Mitti Labs’ monitoring technology and visited farms before signing the agreement, co-founder Xavier Laguarta told TechCrunch. He said Google was also interested in the water savings generated by the projects and Mitti Labs’ ability to operate at a large scale.
The agreement comes as Google works toward its goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2030 while expanding AI infrastructure. Google’s greenhouse gas emissions increased 18% year over year in 2025 to about 14.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to its 2026 Environmental Report.
Mitti Labs says its projects have saved more than 500 billion liters of water during the past two years. Laguarta said the Google agreement will allow the company to expand its operations and work with larger corporate buyers.
Satellite Data Tracks Rice Field Conditions
Founded in 2023 and based in New York and Bengaluru, Mitti Labs has developed a GeoAI platform that combines satellite radar imagery with measurements collected from farms. It uses the data to remotely monitor crop growth, soil moisture and flooding across smallholder farms.
The system uses synthetic aperture radar imagery from commercial and public satellites at resolutions ranging from 50 centimeters to 10 meters. Mitti Labs also collects proprietary field data to train its AI models.
Credits supplied to Google can be issued under either Gold Standard or Isometric certification, according to Laguarta. Projects are independently verified by third parties before credits are issued.
Mitti Labs currently works with more than 100,000 farmers and customers including Cool Effect, Ebro Foods and Syngenta. Most project revenue goes to farming communities, although the company has not disclosed how much farmers participating in Google’s program will receive.
The startup aims to work with millions of farmers by 2030. It plans to begin operating in the Philippines later in 2026, followed by Indonesia and other Southeast Asian markets in 2027.
Google has previously backed carbon projects in India, including a 2025 agreement with Varaha to buy 100,000 tons of biochar carbon removal credits. It has also signed an agreement connected to a 150-megawatt solar project in Rajasthan, bringing its contracted solar capacity with ReNew in the state to 300 megawatts.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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