Google Signs Its Biggest Rice Methane Carbon Credit Deal With Mitti Labs
Google has signed its largest rice methane carbon credit agreement to date, committing to purchase 1 million carbon credits from Indian climate-tech startup Mitti Labs through 2030. The rice methane carbon deal represents the biggest publicly announced transaction involving credits generated by reducing methane emissions in rice farming.
The four-year agreement will span rice farms across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, reaching approximately 100,000 hectares at peak delivery, according to Mitti Labs co-founder Xavier Laguarta. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
How the Rice Methane Carbon Project Works
The project pays farmers to adopt practices that reduce how long rice fields remain flooded. This approach cuts methane released during cultivation while also lowering water use. Mitti Labs says the technique can reduce methane emissions by about 50% and irrigation water use by about 40% without reducing crop yields.
The rice methane carbon credits sold to Google can be issued under Gold Standard or Isometric, two carbon-credit certification bodies. Laguarta added that projects undergo independent third-party verification as part of the certification process before credits are issued.
Why Google Invested in Rice Methane Carbon Credits
Google faces the challenge of reaching its net-zero emissions goal by 2030 while investing heavily in artificial-intelligence infrastructure. Its greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 grew 18% year-over-year to about 14.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to its environmental report released in June.
Mitti Labs began talks with Google about a year ago as the tech company explored adding methane-reduction projects to its carbon-credit portfolio. Google was drawn in part to the project’s water savings and Mitti Labs’ ability to operate at scale.
The startup’s projects have saved more than 500 billion liters of water over the past two years. The Google deal would allow Mitti Labs to expand further, giving it the scale needed to work with large corporate buyers.
Mitti Labs Technology Tracks Rice Methane Carbon Reductions
Founded in 2023, the New York- and Bengaluru-based startup has built a GeoAI platform that combines satellite radar imagery with field measurements to remotely track crop growth, soil moisture, and flooding across smallholder farms.
The platform uses synthetic aperture radar imagery from commercial and public satellites, with resolutions ranging from 50 centimeters to 10 meters. Mitti also uses proprietary data collected in the field to train its AI models.
Google’s evaluation included scrutiny of Mitti Labs’ monitoring technology and visits to farms before the companies signed the agreement. Laguarta called Google “one of the most sophisticated buyers in the market with rigorous due diligence processes.”
Growing Demand for Rice Methane Carbon Credits
Mitti Labs currently works with more than 100,000 farmers and aims to have millions of farmers by 2030. The Google deal would help the startup move toward that goal by allowing it to expand its projects.
A majority of the revenue from the startup’s projects goes to farming communities, Laguarta noted, though he declined to disclose how much farmers participating in the Google project would receive.
While the Google project is limited to India, Mitti Labs plans to launch operations in the Philippines later this year and expand into Indonesia and other Southeast Asian markets in 2027.
Laguarta sees room for the market to grow as more companies look to agricultural projects to tackle methane emissions. About 150 million farmers grow rice across India, Southeast Asia, and China.
Google’s Broader Carbon Removal Investments in India
The deal with Mitti Labs is not Google’s first carbon-removal investment in India. In January 2025, the Mountain View, California-headquartered company partnered with Gurugram-based Varaha to buy 100,000 tons of carbon credits. That was Google’s first large-scale purchase of carbon removal credits in the country and the largest involving biomass-produced biochar.
Google is also turning to clean-energy projects in India to address its supply-chain emissions. The company has signed an agreement tied to a 150-megawatt solar project in Rajasthan, taking its contracted solar capacity with ReNew in the state to 300 megawatts.
What This Means for the Carbon Credit Market
The rice methane carbon deal signals growing corporate interest in agricultural methane reduction as a credible climate solution. Unlike industrial carbon removal, these projects deliver immediate emission cuts while supporting smallholder farmers and conserving water.
For Google, the purchase helps address emissions it cannot eliminate from its AI operations. For Mitti Labs, the agreement provides the scale and credibility needed to attract more corporate buyers.
As more companies seek verifiable carbon credits tied to real environmental impact, rice methane carbon projects could become a significant category in the voluntary carbon market.
