Article in Times of India, Mumbai on 14th Jan, 2008

US co to invest $300m in Indian carbon market

Namrata Singh | TNN

Mumbai: New York-headquartered Green Ventures International, an emissions commodity fund management company, has dedicated its first Asian fund of roughly $300 million (around Rs 1,150 crore) to India, with the primary objective of monetising carbon credits from clean development mechanism (CDM) projects across the country.
This comes at the onset of the second phase of Kyoto Protocol (the UN treaty regulating the reduction of global greenhouse gases) which lasts up to 2012. India—a signatory to the protocol—is expected to generate carbon credits of a larger proportion during the year as compared to 2007. This is attracting a number of global buyers of carbon credits to the Indian market.
“Green Ventures has adopted a different approach to the whole business of carbon. To meet the global demand, we decided to go to the source of certified emission reductions (CERs), or carbon credits, rather than accessing the same from the general markets,’’ Green Ventures, managing director, Krish R Krishnan told TOI. The objective is to source carbon credits from India and sell them to other global buyers. Since the process does not involve intermediaries, Green Ventures feels that this will enable the buyers to get a better price realisation.
Green Ventures also plans to assist in developing and funding initiatives that reduce carbon emissions, in addition to accessing technology from its global network. As part of its business plan in India, the firm is exploring setting up an integrated renewable energy project on its own.
Green Ventures is in the process of building a global carbon trading enterprise in Asia, with the India fund being the first to be launched.
The expected average annual CERs from India is currently at over 28 million, which is 15% of the overall CERs generated globally.