Carbon Credits for Airports in India: What Mumbai Airport's FY2026 Disclosure Shows Buyers
Most carbon credit guides for Indian aviation start with airlines and CORSIA. Airport operators face a different question: with electricity already green and Scope 3 dominated by other people's flights, what are credits actually for? Mumbai airport's FY2026 greenhouse gas inventory gives a rare, public answer, and it is worth reading closely before you write your own airport credit strategy.
What Mumbai airport actually disclosed
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) published its GHG inventory for FY 2025-26. The headline numbers, as stated in the report:
Scope 1: 570.31 tCO2e.
Scope 2: 0 tCO2e, because the airport has run on 100% green electricity since August 2022.
Scope 3: about 4.96 million tCO2e (4,964,215.88 tCO2e).
Offsets: 600 carbon removal credits procured against Scope 1 and 2 emissions. They are Verra VCS 1684 credits, vintage 2022, from an agroforestry project in Laos.
Accreditation: Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 5, the highest level, achieved in 2025.
Why the credit volume is so small
The lopsided ratio, hundreds of credits against millions of tonnes, is the point. Under ACA Level 5, an airport must reach and maintain net zero on its own Scope 1 and 2 emissions, cutting them by 90% from a baseline year and applying credible carbon removals only to the residual. Abatement does the heavy lifting; credits close a small final gap.
The large Scope 3 figure sits mostly outside the operator's control. Landings and take-offs, aircraft handling and road traffic around the airport are generated by airlines, ground handlers and passengers. Retiring credits against that volume would be expensive and would not change any of those activities. Engagement, tenant requirements and electrification of ground support equipment are the tools that work there.
The lesson for procurement teams is that an airport credit budget is driven by the residual after abatement, not by the headline footprint. A team that sizes its purchase from total emissions will overspend by orders of magnitude, and will struggle to defend the spend to its board.
What this means for an Indian airport or aviation-services buyer
If you run an airport, a cargo terminal, an MRO or a ground-handling business, the Mumbai disclosure suggests a sequence worth copying:
Abate first. Move power to renewables, replace diesel vehicles and fix refrigerant leaks and fire-suppression gases before any credit purchase. Mumbai converted 58 vehicles to electric and targeted high-GWP refrigerants.
Size the residual honestly. After abatement, count what is left in Scope 1 and 2. For a green-powered airport that may be only hundreds of tonnes, so do not issue an RFP for tens of thousands.
Choose removals for the residual. Net-zero frameworks expect removals for the final tonnes. Read our comparison of removals versus avoidance credits and the ARR buyer's guide before choosing a project type.
Match vintage and geography to your story. The Mumbai credits are vintage 2022 and from Laos. A domestic project with a recent vintage is easier to explain to Indian stakeholders, and you should ask any seller about both.
Keep Scope 3 out of the credit budget. Track it, set tenant and airline engagement targets, and treat credits as a supplement, not a substitute.
Where CCTS and CORSIA fit
Credit strategy for aviation is split across two regimes. Airlines face international offsetting obligations, which we cover in our CORSIA and Indian aviation guide. Domestic compliance credits under India's market are a separate matter, explained in our CCTS guide. Check the latest notifications to see whether any part of your operation falls under a notified sector; do not assume a voluntary purchase counts for compliance.
Whichever route applies, apply the quality screens in our high-integrity credit checklist: registry status, additionality, permanence and a clear retirement record in your company's name.
Questions to put in an airport credit RFP
Which registry and project ID will the credits come from, and can we verify serial numbers publicly?
What is the vintage, and does it sit reasonably close to our reporting year?
How is permanence managed for removal projects, including reversal buffers and monitoring frequency?
Will retirement be recorded in our company's name, with a statement we can attach to our GHG report?
Talk to us about your airport credit strategy
Csquare helps Indian operators size residual emissions, shortlist verified projects and document retirements. Explore our carbon credit services or contact the team to scope a purchase that matches what your inventory actually needs.
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