~ ShemarooVerse, exclusively launching on PWR Chain, merges Shemaroo Entertainment's extensive content library with advanced blockchain technology. ~
MUMBAI, India, Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shemaroo Entertainment, a leader in India's media and entertainment industry for over six decades, has announced a strategic partnership with PWR Chain, an advanced Layer 0 blockchain infrastructure. Through this alliance, PWR Chain becomes the official blockchain partner for ShemarooVerse, Shemaroo Entertainment's immersive platform set to deliver next-generation immersive content. This partnership is a landmark step in India's entertainment and technology landscape, combining Shemaroo's vast content offerings with PWR Chain's scalable and environmentally efficient blockchain capabilities.
With an expansive digital footprint across more than 50 content channels on YouTube, Shemaroo Entertainment commands over 200 million subscribers and garners 100 million views daily across diverse categories, including Bollywood, regional, television, devotional, and children's entertainment. ShemarooVerse will leverage PWR Chain's high-speed, decentralized infrastructure to create an immersive, interactive digital experience for audiences in India and beyond.
PWR Chain's blockchain technology is among the most sustainable, operating with minimal carbon footprint. Unlike conventional blockchains that require high energy resources, PWR Chain achieves high throughput with minimal power, processing over 300,000 transactions per second while using only a single CPU core per validator node. This efficiency allows ShemarooVerse to scale seamlessly without environmental impact, setting a new standard in green blockchain technology for the entertainment industry.
As Shemaroo Entertainment transitions its expansive IP portfolio onto the blockchain, PWR Chain's infrastructure offers creators unique opportunities to monetize their content through tokenization and digital collectibles, a pivotal innovation in India's content landscape.
The advanced interoperability and scalability of PWR Chain enables ShemarooVerse to leverage PWR Chain's developer-friendly design, the first blockchain that allows deploying full software applications in traditional coding languages. By leveraging PWR Chain's instant finality and quantum-resistant security, ShemarooVerse offers users a secure, dynamic, and immersive digital space for authentic engagement with Shemaroo's iconic content.
Arghya Chakravarty, COO of Shemaroo Entertainment, said, "Partnering with PWR Chain marks a transformative leap in digital engagement for Shemaroo Entertainment. ShemarooVerse will benefit from the speed, scalability, and sustainability of PWR Chain's blockchain infrastructure, offering audiences a more immersive, secure entertainment experience. We are thrilled to bring ShemarooVerse to life in a way that resonates with the evolving preferences of digital consumers."
Melanie Mohr, CEO at PWR Labs, added, "Shemaroo Entertainment's leadership in Indian entertainment provides an ideal platform to demonstrate PWR Chain's high-performance, eco-friendly blockchain technology. This partnership not only underscores the potential of blockchain for enhancing digital experiences but also positions PWR Chain to drive growth and create engaging opportunities within India's entertainment industry."
This partnership highlights Shemaroo's commitment to digital innovation and sets a precedent for India's entertainment industry by bridging traditional media with Web3. By exclusively hosting ShemarooVerse on PWR Chain, Shemaroo Entertainment and PWR Chain are set to reshape India's digital landscape, offering creators and fans new, dynamic ways to engage with content.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Shemaroo Entertainment and PWR Chain Announce Strategic Partnership to Revolutionize India's Digital Entertainment through Blockchain Innovation
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Agreement Calls for Over 100,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) across 3 Years
GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Varaha, a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects with smallholder farmers across Asia, today announced a major offtake agreement with Microsoft for biochar carbon removal in India.
Varaha will develop 18 industrial gasification reactors that will operate for 15 years, with a total projected removal volume exceeding 2 million tonnes of CO₂ over the project's lifetime.
The project sources cotton stalks from smallholder farms in Maharashtra, India for use as the feedstock for biochar production. After harvest, these stalks are treated as waste biomass, and open-field burning is a common practice across the region's cotton belt. This project provides an alternative use for the stalks, converting them into biochar through Varaha's biomass gasification facilities and sequestering biogenic carbon for centuries.
Delivering Local Impact
Varaha's biochar project also delivers measurable benefits for farmers and communities:
- Improvement in Air Quality: The project mitigates the widespread burning of cotton crop residue, significantly reducing PM 2.5 pollutants that contribute to poor air quality. By providing an economically viable alternative to field burning, the initiative tackles a major source of seasonal air pollution.
- Promotion of Regenerative Agriculture: Farmers participating in the program adopt regenerative practices like crop residue mulching and biochar application to soils, improving soil health, water retention, and long-term agricultural productivity.
- Lifting Farmer Livelihoods: The program directly enhances the livelihoods of thousands of smallholder farmers, who receive payment both for contributing agricultural biomass and for implementing crop residue incorporation practices.
"This agreement demonstrates that high-integrity carbon removal can drive transformative co-benefits for communities and ecosystems," said Madhur Jain, Varaha CEO. "We're not just removing carbon—we're creating economic incentives for farmers to mitigate open burning of crop residues."
The project's first reactor will operate alongside Varaha's 52-acre cotton research farm in Maharashtra, where Varaha works directly with farmers to test sustainable practices, including soil application of biochar, under real-world conditions. With up to 18 total reactors funded across India's cotton belt through Microsoft's commitment, the focus remains clear: scaling quickly while putting farmers first.
Setting New Standards for Asian Carbon Markets
The agreement signals growing recognition of the region's potential for high-quality carbon removal projects. Biochar offers permanent carbon storage on geological timescales while supporting agricultural systems, making it one of the most promising pathways for durable carbon dioxide removal.
"This offtake agreement broadens the diversity of Microsoft's carbon removal portfolio with Varaha's biochar project design that is both scalable and durable. It represents a step forward in scaling biochar CDR growth in Asia and advancing co-benefits for farmers—improved soils, cleaner air, and shared economic opportunity," said Phil Goodman, program director, CDR at Microsoft.
The credits generated through the Varaha program meet rigorous standards for measurement, reporting, and verification, ensuring that each tonne represents genuine, permanent carbon removal.
About Varaha
Varaha is a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects in Asia, with a mission of scaling smallholder farmer-led climate solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere and strengthen rural livelihoods. Specializing in regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar, and enhanced rock weathering projects across South Asia, Varaha has pioneered a technology- and science-driven approach to carbon project development since its founding in 2022. Varaha is headquartered in Gurugram, India, and operates 20 carbon projects across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
Agreement Calls for Over 100,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) across 3 Years
GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Varaha, a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects with smallholder farmers across Asia, today announced a major offtake agreement with Microsoft for biochar carbon removal in India.
Varaha will develop 18 industrial gasification reactors that will operate for 15 years, with a total projected removal volume exceeding 2 million tonnes of CO₂ over the project's lifetime.
The project sources cotton stalks from smallholder farms in Maharashtra, India for use as the feedstock for biochar production. After harvest, these stalks are treated as waste biomass, and open-field burning is a common practice across the region's cotton belt. This project provides an alternative use for the stalks, converting them into biochar through Varaha's biomass gasification facilities and sequestering biogenic carbon for centuries.
Delivering Local Impact
Varaha's biochar project also delivers measurable benefits for farmers and communities:
- Improvement in Air Quality: The project mitigates the widespread burning of cotton crop residue, significantly reducing PM 2.5 pollutants that contribute to poor air quality. By providing an economically viable alternative to field burning, the initiative tackles a major source of seasonal air pollution.
- Promotion of Regenerative Agriculture: Farmers participating in the program adopt regenerative practices like crop residue mulching and biochar application to soils, improving soil health, water retention, and long-term agricultural productivity.
- Lifting Farmer Livelihoods: The program directly enhances the livelihoods of thousands of smallholder farmers, who receive payment both for contributing agricultural biomass and for implementing crop residue incorporation practices.
"This agreement demonstrates that high-integrity carbon removal can drive transformative co-benefits for communities and ecosystems," said Madhur Jain, Varaha CEO. "We're not just removing carbon—we're creating economic incentives for farmers to mitigate open burning of crop residues."
The project's first reactor will operate alongside Varaha's 52-acre cotton research farm in Maharashtra, where Varaha works directly with farmers to test sustainable practices, including soil application of biochar, under real-world conditions. With up to 18 total reactors funded across India's cotton belt through Microsoft's commitment, the focus remains clear: scaling quickly while putting farmers first.
Setting New Standards for Asian Carbon Markets
The agreement signals growing recognition of the region's potential for high-quality carbon removal projects. Biochar offers permanent carbon storage on geological timescales while supporting agricultural systems, making it one of the most promising pathways for durable carbon dioxide removal.
"This offtake agreement broadens the diversity of Microsoft's carbon removal portfolio with Varaha's biochar project design that is both scalable and durable. It represents a step forward in scaling biochar CDR growth in Asia and advancing co-benefits for farmers—improved soils, cleaner air, and shared economic opportunity," said Phil Goodman, program director, CDR at Microsoft.
The credits generated through the Varaha program meet rigorous standards for measurement, reporting, and verification, ensuring that each tonne represents genuine, permanent carbon removal.
About Varaha
Varaha is a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects in Asia, with a mission of scaling smallholder farmer-led climate solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere and strengthen rural livelihoods. Specializing in regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar, and enhanced rock weathering projects across South Asia, Varaha has pioneered a technology- and science-driven approach to carbon project development since its founding in 2022. Varaha is headquartered in Gurugram, India, and operates 20 carbon projects across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Varaha Signs Carbon Removal Agreement with Microsoft