Rating agency ICRA has got into an alliance with the UK-based IDEA carbon to provide carbon trading services and ratings to Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) as India Inc warms up to the realities of climate change and commercial potential of carbon credits. The alliance would provide reliable and independent analysis of carbon assets to carbon market participants, P.K Choudhury; group CEO, ICRA, said on Tuesday.

From coconut shells and cashew kernels to ice creams, ketchups, tea and soaps clean development mechanism (CDM) has spawned the development of the Indian carbon market with a robust and diverse portfolio of projects. CDM allows companies to implement emission-reduction projects. Such projects can earn saleable CER credits, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon-di-oxide. The price of carbon is fixed on per tonne basis and ranges between $8-12 per tonne. The CDM executive board, answerable to the countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol on the United Nations, oversees the mechanism.