India has long trailed China in drawing foreign investment for cleantech projects. With prices in the energy and emissions markets surpassing historical highs, the venture capital community and Indian government are finally directing investment into Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects.

While India is currently the second largest host country of CDM projects with an average allocation of 31 million credits annually, investment in large scale reduction projects has been lacking since the establishment of the CDM in 1998 as part of the Kyoto Protocol. The project was begun to spur cleantech investment in the developing world, while also allowing emitters in developed nations to obtain Certified Emission Reductions (CER) credits, each one accounting for a reduction of one metric ton of CO2.

But with the inception of binding emissions targets this year under Kyoto’s second phase, and the near-certain adoption of a cap-and-trade system under either Senator Obama or McCain, the value of carbon credits is on the rise. At the close of trading on July 22nd, credits with 2008 del Read the full article