Glimpses from Ground: Analysis of selected CDM projects in India

The report analyzes 11 CDM projects across five Indian states, concluding that sustainable development through these projects is largely a 'myth'. It finds severe discrepancies between PDD promises and actual impacts, noting that industrial projects often use CER revenue to expand production, leading to increased pollution. Most projects failed to provide promised local employment, healthcare, or education, and some caused significant harm through illegal land acquisition and environmental degradation. Only the Muni Seva Ashram solar community kitchen project was identified as successfully contributing to social, economic, environmental, and technological well-being.

• There are systemic discrepancies between the promises made in Project Design Documents (PDDs) and the actual implementation of CDM projects, with the report stating that "sustainable development through CDM project is a myth".
• Industrial projects frequently use Certified Emission Reduction (CER) revenue to fund further manufacturing expansion, which increases the use of natural resources and pollution levels.
• Local communities generally do not receive the promised economic or employment benefits from both industrial and renewable energy CDM projects.
• The report identifies a lack of rigor in PDD preparation, noting that many documents appear to be copied from the same consultant without case-by-case analysis, which misleads the public and the Executive Board.
• Several projects caused direct harm to local livelihoods and health, including gas leakages at SRF Ltd, illegal land acquisition and forced resettlement at Sasan Power, and the loss of grazing land and water sources at the Charnaka solar plant.
• The Muni Seva Ashram solar community kitchen project is highlighted as a successful example that met all four sustainable development criteria: social, economic, environmental, and technological well-being.

APA

Joshi, F., & Mehta, H. (2013). Glimpses from Ground: Analysis of selected CDM projects in India. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Glimpse-from-Ground-Analysis-of-selected-CDM-projects_clean-final.pdf

Chicago

Joshi, Falguni, and Hiral Mehta. Glimpses from Ground: Analysis of selected CDM projects in India. Carbon Market Watch, 2013. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Glimpse-from-Ground-Analysis-of-selected-CDM-projects_clean-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Joshi |first1=Falguni |last2=Mehta |first2=Hiral |title=Glimpses from Ground: Analysis of selected CDM projects in India |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=1 November 2013 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Glimpse-from-Ground-Analysis-of-selected-CDM-projects_clean-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{joshi2013glimpses, author = {Joshi, Falguni and Mehta, Hiral}, title = {{Glimpses from Ground: Analysis of selected CDM projects in India}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2013}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Glimpse-from-Ground-Analysis-of-selected-CDM-projects_clean-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }