A buying desk that helps Indian firms purchase carbon removal they can defend
TL;DR Removalbuy helps Indian companies with net-zero pledges buy durable carbon removal, like biochar and rock weathering, from vetted suppliers. It checks each project, structures the contracts and keeps the retirement records. Companies pay a yearly retainer plus a fee per tonne. I've dropped the seed's on-site air-capture machines, because they cost far too much to make sense.
A listed Indian company that has promised net zero will still emit something in 2030, and it has to decide what to do about the remainder. Disclosure pressure is rising too. SEBI's BRSR Core framework of July 2023 brings assurance to ESG disclosures, including for value chains[1].
The obvious buy is a cheap avoidance credit, which a sceptical auditor or journalist can pick apart. Durable removal is easier to defend but hard to buy. The global tracker CDR.fyi shows 50.6 million tonnes contracted but only 1.7 million delivered[2], so the risk of non-delivery is real.
Few Indian sustainability teams have the time or chemistry background to judge a biochar kiln in Maharashtra against a basalt trial in Darjeeling.
First, the important bit - Removalbuy does procurement advice and contract management only. It does not issue, trade or broker credits on an exchange, and it makes no claim that a client is carbon neutral. Clients make their own claims, with Removalbuy's evidence pack.
A client sets a yearly removal budget. Removalbuy shortlists suppliers, visits sites, reads their registry methodology and monitoring data and proposes a mix weighted towards projects in India. It then negotiates offtake or prepurchase terms, tracks deliveries and files retirement certificates in a log that auditors can check.
I reframed the seed, which proposed installing direct air capture units at company sites. Air is the same everywhere, so putting the machine on campus adds nothing except cost. The IEA puts a large new plant at USD 125–335 a tonne (about ₹12,100–32,400) and says dilute air is why it costs more than capture from flue gas[3]. A buyer's desk gets clients more tonnes they can defend for the same budget.
The sustainability or ESG head pays, usually from a budget the CFO already approves for offsets. Prices are public. On CDR.fyi's tracker, the weighted average disclosed price is about $136 a tonne for biochar (₹13,200), $352 for enhanced weathering (₹34,000) and $516 for direct air capture with storage (₹49,900)[2]. Removalbuy's retainer and per-tonne fee are untested assumptions. A firm buying 2,000 tonnes a year is a realistic first client.
India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme is live. Its offset list has 12 approved methodologies, and biochar and accelerated mineralisation are open for consultation[4]. The Indian Carbon Market portal lets non-obligated purchasers register[5]. The Green Credit Programme's calculation method was revised in August 2025[6]. Confused? So are most firms, and they need someone to explain which instrument suits which claim.
Nobody publishes a figure for Indian companies' spending on durable removal. The narrowest figure I found is a large tech-buyer coalition, which has contracted 1,851 tonnes from one Darjeeling basalt project and 1,513 tonnes from one rice-paddy project[7]. So Indian supply exists and foreign buyers already pay for it. The global 50.6 million contracted tonnes[2] is adjacent context.
Buyer coalitions pool large tech buyers and prepays removal suppliers, Indian ones included[7]. Removal registries set methodologies, such as 200-plus-year durability for biochar[8], but they don't advise buyers. Carbon-capture equipment makers sell modular capture units for firms with their own flue gas[9], which suits a steel or cement plant, not an office.
In my limited search, I found no India-based desk working for buyers.
| Difficulty | Moderate (39/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹45–85 L |
| Time to launch | 4–6 months |
The work is mostly judgement and trust. You need someone who can read a methodology and spot a weak baseline, and a sales lead who can reach CFOs at listed firms. Supplier visits across India take time, and the first client will ask whom else you serve.
There's no licence for advising buyers, but the carbon rules shape what you can sell.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't let AI judge whether a project is real or whether a claim is lawful. A person who has visited the site and read the rules signs off every purchase.
Want to work out the AI layer for Removalbuy? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
This suits a founder from carbon markets, ESG assurance or commodity procurement who already knows sustainability heads at listed companies. If you were hoping to build capture hardware then this isn't the one.
First, prove that three listed firms will each sign a paid pilot to buy at least 500 tonnes of removal through you.
Plan for roughly ₹45–85 L. Most of it goes on senior people who can judge projects and sell to CFOs, plus supplier site visits.
Not for advice alone. If you start trading or holding Indian carbon credit certificates, take legal advice first, and keep the baseline registrations and DPDP duties in order.
Yes, wherever companies have net-zero targets and disclosure rules. The supplier vetting work travels well, but the local carbon market and disclosure rules will differ.
The free Removalbuy validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the carbon market and disclosure checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for sustainability heads, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Removalbuy or something close to it? The hard part is earning a CFO's trust for a purchase most firms have never made before, and I enjoy helping founders figure out that first pitch. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.