Sustainability-focused investment manager Mirova announced that it has invested $30 million in a soil-based carbon project in India by project developer Varaha, focused on supporting smallholder farmers in implementing regenerative agricultural practices.
The investment marks Mirova’s largest transaction to date under its nature-based carbon strategies, as well as its first carbon investment in India.
Founded in 2022, carbon project developer Varaha specializes in nature-based solutions, with a focus on working with smallholder farmers to help remove carbon from the atmosphere at a planetary scale, with a mission to sequester 1 billion tonnes of CO2e on smallholder lands. The company currently operated 13 carbon projects across South Asia, focused on approaches including regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar, and enhanced rock weathering.
Madhur Jain, MD & CEO of Varaha, said:
“This partnership is a strong validation of Varaha’s vision to make regenerative agriculture a cornerstone of India’s climate strategy. Our work with thousands of smallholder farmers demonstrates that large-scale, high-integrity carbon projects can also deliver meaningful livelihood benefits.”
Under the new partnership, Mirova will invest in Varaha’s Kheti soil carbon project, in the Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. The project aims to support the transition of over 337,000 smallholder farmers across 675,000 hectares towards regenerative practices such as direct seeding of rice, crop residue management, and reduced tillage. The practices are expected to generate high-quality carbon credits , with a revenue-sharing mechanism ensuring that farmers directly benefit from the sale of credits.
In addition to removing carbon, the project is expected to generate additional environmental and social benefits, including enhanced soil health, improved biodiversity, reduced water consumption, improved air quality, minimized chemical inputs, improved livelihoods through increased agricultural yields, lower input costs and job creation, as well as support for female entrepreneurship in rural communities.
Charlotte Lehmann, Senior Investment Director at Mirova, said:
“This transaction — our largest carbon deal to date and our first in India under the natural capital platform — marks a pivotal milestone in our strategy. It opens up new avenues to scale high-integrity nature-based investments across the Asia-Pacific region. Kheti exemplifies how carbon finance can drive systemic transformation in agriculture while strengthening the resilience of vulnerable rural communities.”
