Google expands India's clean-energy push with Solar API for 300M rooftops, climate-smart agri programme, and more

Google has unveiled a slew of clean-energy and climate-tech initiatives in India, combining artificial intelligence, geospatial data, and infrastructure investments to accelerate the country’s clean-energy transition.

The initiatives include the expansion of its Solar API to more than 300 million buildings across India, a 150-megawatt (MW) solar project in Rajasthan with ReNew Power, a climate-smart agriculture programme with Mitti Labs to help rice farmers cut methane emissions and water use, and new research priorities under the Google Center for Climate Technology.

Commenting on the initiatives, Vrushali Gaud, Director, Climate Operations at Google, said: “As India strengthens its technological and AI leadership, ensuring that this momentum drives sustainable, inclusive growth is central to our collective future.

"From deploying geospatial AI to help local solar installers scale rooftop adoption, to collaborating with farmers on climate-smart water practices and adding new clean power to the national grid, these initiatives show how digital innovation and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand to create practical, lasting impact for India.”

The company is scaling its Solar API, part of Earth AI, to cover more than 300 million buildings across India. The technology combines AI and high-resolution imagery to help solar installers assess a building’s rooftop solar potential remotely, reducing the need for time-consuming on-site surveys, the company said in a statement. Globally, Solar API can now generate rooftop insights for more than 1.2 billion buildings.

Besides these initiatives, the company is expanding its clean-energy commitment in India through a long-term agreement with ReNew Power for a 150 MW solar generation project in Rajasthan. The project represents Google’s second Scope 3-focused solar investment in India and takes its total contracted solar capacity with ReNew to 300 MW.

Google is also partnering with Mitti Labs on a climate-smart agriculture programme targeting smallholder rice farmers in Telangana. The project is expected to mitigate nearly 3 million tonnes of CO2e over a 20-year Global Warming Potential timeframe. Its impact will be tracked through satellite-based monitoring, supported by NASA-enabled technology, alongside on-ground field networks, the company said.

Meanwhile, the Google Center for Climate Technology, launched in February in partnership with the Government of India’s Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, is expanding its research agenda to address additional environmental challenges: freshwater demand and e-waste and battery recycling.

Google has also announced the inaugural cohort of the Google DeepMind Accelerator, featuring four Indian startups applying AI to environmental challenges. While Terrastack and Varaha Climate are using plot-level land intelligence, regenerative agriculture practices, and verified carbon credits to support smallholder farmers, Farmers for Forests and Climitra Carbon are applying geospatial AI, drones and satellite models to scale agroforestry, restore biodiversity and convert invasive biomass into biochar.