Google is deploying artificial intelligence across India's agriculture and energy sectors to tackle climate challenges, from reducing methane in rice paddies to accelerating rooftop solar adoption across hundreds of millions of homes. The company announced five new sustainability initiatives that combine satellite imagery, machine learning, and direct partnerships with local farmers and researchers to deliver measurable environmental impact.

How Is AI Helping Indian Farmers Cut Methane and Water Use?

Google partnered with Mitti Labs on a climate-smart agriculture project targeting rice farmers in Telangana, one of India's major rice-growing regions. The initiative introduces Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), a farming technique that disrupts the oxygen-depleted soil conditions responsible for methane generation. Instead of keeping rice fields continuously flooded, farmers periodically drain and reflood them, which significantly reduces both methane emissions and irrigation demand.

This represents the largest publicly announced agreement to date to purchase credits generated by reducing methane emissions from rice cultivation. The project is expected to help tens of thousands of smallholder rice farmers adopt these practices. Globally, rice cultivation accounts for up to 12% of all methane emissions, making this intervention particularly significant for climate impact. Once fully implemented, the initiative is estimated to conserve billions of gallons of water across regional basins in India while maintaining crop productivity.

Mitti uses NASA-enabled satellite-based verification alongside on-the-ground networks to measure the project's impact and support farmers as they transition to AWD practices. Google estimates the project will achieve roughly 3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in near-term warming impact using a 20-year Global Warming Potential measure, which reflects methane's stronger temporary warming effect. This is equivalent to 1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent when measured over the conventional 100-year period.

What Role Does Solar API Play in India's Rooftop Energy Transition?

Google is scaling its Solar API technology, part of its Earth AI suite, to assess solar potential across more than 300 million rooftops in India. The technology uses AI and satellite imagery to generate insights that let installers assess a home's solar potential without an on-site visit, reducing the time and cost required to produce accurate designs and final proposals. This acceleration comes amid a nationwide boom in Indian rooftop solar, fueled by government incentives.

Local solar platforms are already integrating Solar API insights into their workflows. Solar Ladder, a domestic solar operations platform, uses the data to help installers prepare mobile proposals and reduce the need for repeated physical site assessments. OpenSolar, another Google Solar API partner, leverages the data to help installers model rooftop conditions and develop system and financial proposals for customers.

Google is also expanding its commitment to India's electricity grid through a new long-term agreement with ReNew Power for a 150-megawatt 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 value chain. This marks Google's second Scope 3-focused solar project in India, with both projects expected to add 300 megawatts of new solar generation capacity to one of the world's most rapidly expanding grids.

Ways Google Is Supporting Green Innovation and Workforce Development

• Center for Climate Technology: Launched in February in partnership with India's Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, the Center selected three inaugural projects from 77 applications, evaluated on technical merit and projected impact. The Center now invites research and innovation proposals across water stewardship and waste and circularity, with selected applicants receiving Google support to develop data-driven solutions.
• DeepMind Accelerator for AI for the Planet: Google welcomed the inaugural cohort featuring four Indian startups leveraging AI to solve environmental challenges, including Terrastack and Varaha Climate, which empower smallholder farmers with plot-level land intelligence and verified carbon credits, and Farmers for Forests and Climitra Carbon, which apply geospatial AI and satellite models to scale agroforestry and restore biodiversity.
• Green Workforce Training: The Google Center for Climate Technology is supporting initiatives ranging from ready-to-teach courses and original research to pilot projects focused on green workforce training and low-carbon construction materials, helping translate cutting-edge research into practical solutions for India.

The five initiatives demonstrate how combining foundational research, public partnerships, and direct support for local innovators can accelerate technological solutions that foster a sustainable, climate-resilient future. As India accelerates its journey toward AI leadership, sustainable growth remains central to the country's economic and environmental future, and these projects align with that dual priority.

The scale of these interventions reflects a broader trend among technology companies investing in climate solutions tailored to regional needs. By focusing on agriculture, energy infrastructure, and research funding, Google is addressing some of India's most pressing environmental challenges while building local capacity for green innovation.