Conclusions

Most of Indian or global inventories are either estimated at national level or inventory considers only emission sources without including carbon storage potential or vice-versa. This article provides a decentralised carbon inventory, which will aid in planning the GHG mitigation and management strategies at local levels. A good carbon inventory needs to consider both carbon emission as well as storage capacity. Hence, the present effort consists of a statewise inventory where major contributors of carbon emission are included along with major carbon sinks of India. The total CO₂ emission from India is 965.9 Tg/year. Among all the sectors, electricity generation, transport, and cement and steel industries were first, second and third major contributors of CO₂ emission. Among all the states and UTs, Maharashtra’s contribution is the largest in CO₂ and CO emissions and Uttar Pradesh contributes the highest CH₄ emission. In terms of carbon storage potential, Arunachal Pradesh is the major carbon sink of India. Ratio of carbon sequestration to carbon emission in terms of it equivalent in carbon dioxide is also highest for Arunachal Pradesh (CS: 7.5), which is followed by Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Manipur, which shows that carbon storage capacity is more than emission.