CBAM and India: what it costs Indian exporters, product by product
Since 1 January 2026 an EU company importing iron, steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers or hydrogen from India pays for the emissions made in producing them. The legal duty is the importer's; the cost comes back to the Indian exporter in price talks, and the way to lower it is the exporter's own verified emissions data.
What your EU buyer pays per tonne, on India's default values
Without verified data from you, your buyer must use the EU default value for India, with a mark-up. Per tonne, at the latest official certificate price (€82.32, Q3 2026) kept the same in every year, after the free allocation deduction. The cost rises each year because the mark-up rises to 30% from 2028 and the free allocation is phased out by 2034.
| Product (CN code) | Default value, t CO2e/t | 2026 | 2030 | 2034 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wire rod with indentations or ribs (7213 10 00) | 4.27 | €277 | €399 | €457 |
| Hot-rolled coil, under 3 mm (7208 39 00) | 4.28 | €278 | €400 | €458 |
| Threaded screws and bolts (7318 15 00) | 5.72 | €408 | €554 | €612 |
| Unwrought aluminium (7601 10 00) | 1.87 | €55 | €140 | €200 |
| Aluminium alloy bars and rods (7604 29 10) | 3.413 | €190 | €302 | €365 |
| Grey Portland cement (2523 29 00) | 1.48 | €81 | €130 | €158 |
Every Indian code: CBAM default values for India. How each figure is worked out: methodology with worked examples.
Lower the figure with your own data
Only actual emissions, verified by a verifier accredited in the EU, can replace the default value. For most Indian processors the bought-in steel or aluminium is the larger part of the figure, so your suppliers' data matters as much as your own plant's.
- Embedded emissions calculator: your own figure per tonne, compared with India's default value.
- Sourcing comparison: the default value of wire rod, billet, coil and aluminium from every country.
- Communication template guide and checker: the file your EU buyer asks for.
- Verification planner and who can verify.
The EU-India trade agreement and CBAM
The EU and India concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement on 27 January 2026. When this page was written (21 October 2026) it was not yet in force. Its Annex 14-A, "Carbon border adjustment measures", contains no exemption from CBAM: Indian goods are charged like anyone else's. The published text is provisional: the Commission notes it may still change in legal revision and becomes final only on signature.
What the annex does contain:
- Most-favoured-nation treatment (Article 14-A.2). Any flexibility the EU grants to like goods from another non-EU country in applying CBAM must also be given to Indian goods.
- A technical dialogue (Article 14-A.3) on, among other things: default values; the possibility of taking into account a carbon price paid in India; and whether accreditation bodies could recognise each other's verifiers. Until that happens, verification needs a verifier accredited in the EU.
- Cooperation and support (Articles 14-A.1 and 14-A.4): technical assistance and capacity building and, among the stated objectives, technical support for SMEs to comply with CBAM.
Source: European Commission, text of the EU-India agreements (Annex 14-A). On a carbon price paid at home, see can it reduce your buyer's CBAM cost?
Guides for Indian exporters
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What the paid CBAM Evidence Pack adds
The free tools estimate. The Evidence Pack works out your real figures from your own records and prepares the records an accredited verifier usually asks for, so your buyer can use them instead of the default value once verified.
- Emissions per product, worked out with the EU method from your own fuel, electricity, production and bought-in metal
- "Read with AI" fills in the figures from your electricity and fuel bills
- Every figure linked to its source document, with a SHA-256 hash and an audit log: the evidence file your verifier asks for
- Monitoring plan (Word), emissions report (Excel) and the UK CBAM statement for UK buyers, filled in from your data: EU and UK in one price
- Links for your suppliers to send their emissions data, and private links for your EU buyers to see your figures
- Team access, data stored in the EU (documents you send to AI reading are processed in the USA), and a refund within 14 days if you have downloaded nothing
The same job, with the free tools and with the pack
| Free tools and a spreadsheet | Evidence Pack | |
|---|---|---|
| Your figures | Free tools and a spreadsheet: One product at a time, typed in by hand and kept in your browser | Evidence Pack: Every product of a plant for the whole year, from monthly records or an import of your workbook, kept in your account |
| Proof behind a figure | Free tools and a spreadsheet: You file the bills and keep track of which figure came from which | Evidence Pack: Each figure linked to the bill or record it came from, with the page, a file hash and a log of every change |
| Supplier data | Free tools and a spreadsheet: A request letter and a link; you collect the replies and copy them in | Evidence Pack: A link per supplier, the reply lands in the year's data, and a list shows who has not answered and when you last reminded them |
| What your buyer gets | Free tools and a spreadsheet: A summary you fill in and send | Evidence Pack: A numbered statement per shipment that never changes after issue, and a private link to your figures |
| What your verifier gets | Free tools and a spreadsheet: A checklist to prepare with | Evidence Pack: Read-only access for the verifier, the monitoring plan in Word, the emissions report in Excel, the Commission's template filled in and one evidence file |
$159 early-bird price until 31 March 2027, then $249; charged in US dollars
Free to try: enter your data and see your results without paying. You pay only to unlock the downloads and links for a plant and reporting year. The app is in English. No subscription, no sales call.