Varaha’s Agnisparsh Biochar Project Lands BeZero A.pre Rating

Varaha’s Agnisparsh biochar project in Western India has secured an A.pre Ex Ante rating from BeZero Carbon, with the carbon ratings agency assigning the venture a low project execution risk as of October 2026.

The rating arrives roughly fourteen months before the project’s first scheduled credit issuance in January 2027. Once fully operational, Agnisparsh is expected to run approximately 450 Kon-Tiki kilns across multiple sites, producing biochar from agricultural residues supplied by local smallholder farms.

Varaha, which positions itself as the largest carbon removal developer in Asia, says the project will deliver more than 100,000 tonnes in 2027. That volume would place Agnisparsh among the largest biochar initiatives globally.

What does the A.pre rating actually assess?

BeZero’s ex ante ratings speak to the pre-issuance market: they judge whether a carbon credit that does not yet exist is likely to deliver a tonne of CO2e avoided or removed.

“A BeZero Carbon ex ante Rating represents our independent opinion on the likelihood of a pre-issuance carbon credit achieving a tonne of CO2e avoided or removed,” said BeZero CEO and co-founder Tommy Ricketts. “The A.pre rating for this project reflects our current assessment of its additionality, carbon accounting, and permanence.”

In plain terms, the agency considers the project likely to do what its credits promise.

How does the material stream work?

Agnisparsh sits in a region where farmers conventionally dispose of biomass waste by burning it in the field after harvest. The project diverts that residue into kilns instead.

The cycle closes at the farm gate. Most of the biochar produced goes back to the farmers free of charge, and is applied to soil as a health amendment that also addresses atmospheric CO2.

Agnisparsh is being developed under Rainbow’s Distributed Open-Kiln Biochar Methodology (v.1.0).

Is a CCP-labelled credit next?

The ICVCM approved Rainbow as eligible for the Core Carbon Principles label earlier this year. Its Distributed Open-Kiln Biochar methodology is now under review for approval.

If the ICVCM grants that approval, Agnisparsh credits could carry the CCP label — a mark that increasingly separates compliant supply from the rest of the voluntary market. Varaha has stated it could pursue that designation for this project.

The company frames the BeZero rating as evidence that community-scale projects can match industrial ones on quality.

“While to date, all of our industrial-rated biochar projects have been A-rated, this rating shows that community-led biochar does not need to compromise in quality,” said Varaha Co-founder and CEO Madhur Jain. “The combination of community engagement, quality, and affordability will enable us to scale this project quickly and sustainably.”

What to track from here

Three dates and decisions now govern the project’s trajectory:

• January 2027: first credit issuance expected from Agnisparsh.
• During 2027: delivery of more than 100,000 tonnes targeted, against the build-out of roughly 450 Kon-Tiki kilns.
• Pending: the ICVCM’s decision on Rainbow’s Distributed Open-Kiln Biochar Methodology, which determines whether Agnisparsh credits qualify for the CCP label.

Varaha, meanwhile, has been broadening its biochar footprint beyond India, having announced a partnership programme and a new project in Côte d’Ivoire, plus a collaboration with Supercritical to bring distributed biochar credits to market.

The ICVCM methodology review is the milestone that decides whether these credits trade at the top of the market or merely in it.