Google today announced five new sustainability and clean-energy initiatives in India, deploying artificial intelligence, geospatial data, and infrastructure investments to accelerate the country’s clean energy transition and support national climate priorities.
The announcements span distributed rooftop solar intelligence covering over 300 million buildings, a new 150-megawatt (MW) utility solar agreement in Rajasthan, a landmark methane- and water-reduction initiative with Mitti Labs supporting tens of thousands of smallholder farmers, and expanded research tracks through the Google Center for Climate Technology.
“As India strengthens its technological and AI leadership, ensuring that this momentum drives sustainable, inclusive growth is central to our collective future,” said Vrushali Gaud, Director, Climate Operations at Google. “From deploying geospatial AI to help local solar installers scale rooftop adoption, to collaborating with farmers on climate-smart water practices and adding new clean power to the national grid, these initiatives show how digital innovation and environmental stewardship go hand in hand to create practical, lasting impact for India.”
Overview of Announcements:
- Scaling Solar API for Over 300 Million Rooftops in India
Google has long used AI and imagery to make rooftop solar adoption faster and simpler. Solar API, part of Earth AI, can now generate insights for more than 1.2 billion buildings globally and over 300 million rooftops across India.
The technology provides rooftop insights that allow installers to assess a home’s solar potential without an on-site visit—reducing the time and cost required to produce accurate designs and final customer proposals. This comes amid a nationwide boom in Indian residential solar, fueled by government incentive programs like PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. Local platforms, including Solar Ladder and OpenSolar, are already integrating Solar API data into their software workflows to automate 3D system layouts, model parapet and water tank clearances, and generate mobile proposals during the very first client meeting.
By making rooftop assessments faster, more accurate, and scalable, Solar API provides the foundational data to automate manual roof surveys and custom layouts—making residential solar faster, more affordable, and far easier for households across India to adopt.
focused on green workforce training and low-carbon construction materials and is opening new opportunities through the Manthan Platform focused on water stewardship and waste and circularity. These efforts build on Google’s broader support for homegrown climate innovation, including the inaugural cohort of the Google DeepMind Accelerator: AI for the Planet, which includes four Indian startups applying AI to protect the planet.
- Adding 150 MW of Clean Energy to India’s Grid
Google is expanding its commitment to India’s electricity grid through a new, long-term agreement with ReNew Power for a 150-megawatt (MW) solar generation project in Rajasthan. Under the agreement, Google will receive the environmental attributes associated with the clean electricity generated by the project and apply them to help address electricity-related emissions across its broader value chain.
This agreement builds on Google’s approach to accelerate supply chain decarbonization through direct procurement of clean energy attributes. This marks Google’s second Scope 3-focused solar project in India, bringing total contracted capacity with ReNew to 300 MW of new solar generation capacity on India’s national grid.
3. Helping Rice Farmers Reduce Methane and Conserve Water
Google is partnering with Mitti Labs on a project expected to help tens of thousands of smallholder rice farmers in Telangana adopt climate-smart farming practices. Globally, rice cultivation accounts for up to 12% of all methane emissions.
Marking the largest publicly announced agreement to date to purchase credits generated by reducing methane emissions from rice cultivation, this initiative introduces Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD). By periodically draining and reflooding fields rather than keeping them continuously submerged, AWD introduces oxygen into the soil, disrupting methane-producing microbes while significantly reducing irrigation demand, conserving water, and providing direct payments to participating farmers.
The project aims to mitigate nearly 3 million tonnes of CO2e on a 20-year Global Warming Potential (GWP20) basis (equivalent to 1 million tonnes on a 100-year GWP100 basis), with verification powered by NASA-enabled satellite monitoring and on-the-ground field networks.
4. Adding New Focus Areas to the Google Center for Climate Technology
Launched in February in partnership with the Government of India’s Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, the Google Center for Climate Technology supports researchers and innovators applying AI to environmental challenges. Out of 77 applications, the Center has selected its first three inaugural grant recipients across two tracks: green workforce training and low-carbon construction materials.
Google is now expanding the Center’s scope with two new focus areas open for research and innovation proposals on the Government of India’s Manthan Platform:
- Water Stewardship: Addressing rising freshwater demand by developing scalable technologies and management practices to protect and conserve vital watershed resources.
- Waste and Circularity: Advancing research into e-waste and battery recycling processes to support more circular approaches to resource use.
5. Supporting India’s Climate Tech Startup Ecosystem
Reinforcing its support for grassroots innovation, Google recently welcomed the inaugural cohort of the Google DeepMind Accelerator: AI for the Planet, which includes four pioneering Indian startups leveraging AI to protect the planet:
- Terrastack and Varaha Climate, empowering smallholder farmers with plot-level land intelligence, regenerative practices, and verified carbon credits.
- Farmers for Forests and Climitra Carbon, applying Geo-AI, drones, and satellite models to scale agroforestry, restore biodiversity, and convert invasive biomass into biochar.
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