India has approved 1013 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in the country. The latest clearance to 15 projects was given in the meeting of the National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, during first week of this month. The country also tops the list of registered CDM projects with CDM Executive Board having 355 projects. CDM projects result in real, measurable and long-term benefits for climate change mitigation. The projects are in the sectors of energy efficiency, renewables including biomass based cogeneration projects, industrial processes; fuel switching, municipal solid wastes and forestry. All the approved projects, if registered by the CDM Executive Board, will have the potential to generate 506 million Certified Emission Reduction (CER) units. At a conservative price of US $ 10 per CER, it corresponds to an overall inflow of approximately US $ 5 billion into the country by the year 2012. Out of total 1133 projects registered by the CDM Executive Board, 355 CDM Projects are from India. This is followed by 248 and 143 projects by China and Brazil respectively. On the Issued CERs, China leads with 63 million CERs, followed by India at 46 million and Republic of Korea at 27 million.

India, as a developing country, participates in the Clean Development Mechanism set up under the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC. Under the CDM, a developed country can take up greenhouse gas reduction project activities in a developing country where the costs of greenhouse gas reduction project activities are usually much lower. The purpose of Clean Development Mechanism is to assist developing country parties in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the ultimate objective of UN Convention on Climate Change. Besides this, it also assist developed country parties in achieving compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.  The CDM promotes environmentally friendly investment from government and businesses of industrialized country.  A Certified emission reductions (CERs) or CER is a unit issued pursuant to Article 12 and requirements there under, as well as the relevant provisions in the CDM modalities and procedures, and is equal to one metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, calculated using global warming potentials defined by decision 2/CP.3 or as subsequently revised in accordance with Article 5 of the Kyoto Protocol.