Climate Tech

Alt Carbon is tapping a major tea belt to deliver what climate-tech often only promises

Sai Keerthi

January 27, 2026 | 12 Min Read

From helping improve yields in Darjeeling’s tea plantations to issuing Asia’s largest Enhanced Rock Weathering carbon credits, the startup is offering early proof that science-led carbon removal may finally be moving from promise to practice. There are challenges ahead, though.

Walk into the tea aisle in an Indian supermarket and one will be met with a large number of Darjeeling tea brands. In recent years, however, beneath the premium branding, a crisis has been brewing. The tea plantations in Darjeeling have been struggling with low yields and changing weather patterns. Farmers have been struggling to sustain production. Tea estate owners have been watching helplessly as cheap tea, slapped with a Darjeeling label, has flooded stores across India.

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