India is developing its Carbon Credit Trading Scheme as a response to CBAM, with the TIC Council highlighting the Testing, Inspection and Certification ecosystem’s crucial role in helping industry meet compliance and energy transition needs.

CBAM aims to prevent carbon leakage by ensuring a carbon price is reflected in imports and is viewed as a driver for international carbon markets and alignment of global climate policy.

India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme is seen as a positive step in response to CBAM, supporting the broader goal of international carbon market development and global climate policy collaboration.

Leading voices from TIC Council and partners, including Seema Shukla and Ranjeet Mehta, emphasize timelines, readiness, and the broader impact on Indian producers, exporters, and European importers.

Industry observers warn that CBAM competitiveness will take time and that additional taxes could come once CBAM is implemented, urging diplomatic engagement to gain more time for adaptation.

Experts stress the gradual nature of CBAM compliance and the need for diplomatic engagement to secure transitional time for industry amid green transition pressures.

There is concern that competitiveness under CBAM will require time and may entail higher taxes later, reinforcing calls for proactive diplomacy.

Accredited verifiers, the involvement of tech companies in verification, and India’s 2070 net-zero target frame collaborative climate action.

Indian stakeholders note that exports to the EU have already declined ahead of CBAM, making preparation essential for exporters and MSMEs, with emphasis on awareness, capacity-building, and transitional timelines.

Ranjeet Mehta stresses the inevitability of CBAM and urges exporters, especially MSMEs, to prepare for compliance, including potential higher taxes and capacity-building for India’s 80 million-strong MSME sector.

The decline in steel and aluminium exports to the EU prior to CBAM underscores the urgency for exporters to align with future CBAM requirements.

Discussions and progress on the EU’s CBAM are expected to advance soon, contingent on political and technical negotiations between India and the EU, per the TIC Council.