India is negotiating with the European Union to get official recognition for the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) under CBAM. If accepted, Indian verifiers could certify embedded carbon emissions for steel, aluminium, and cement exports, cutting the cost and complexity of using international agencies for reporting. The mandatory CBAM return filing starts in September 2027. Without recognized local verification, exporters risk the EU applying default values based on the worst-performing production facilities, which would raise carbon levies and squeeze margins. India already secured UK recognition for NABCB and a deal to credit payments made under its domestic Carbon Credit Trading Scheme against UK measures, and it wants a similar arrangement with Brussels. For companies and investors, the key monitorable is how fast the EU moves on NABCB recognition and whether India's verification infrastructure can produce data the EU trusts. Delays would hit smaller exporters hardest, potentially costing them EU market access.
