With the slow pace of reforms and measures, India’s approach towards fighting climate change seems half-hearted and piecemeal. In order to implement a comprehensive approach and join the war on carbon, she must adopt an emissions trading scheme. It is a widely accepted market-based mechanism whereby a cap is set on the emitters and they are allowed to trade their carbon allowances. To effectively implement the scheme, an independent regulatory authority must be set up. We discuss the three roles that it must play – market maker, technical consultant and contingency planner. The decision regarding the inclusion of carbon intensive industries must lie with the regulatory authority, and with respect to the other industries, the State Governments must be empowered to take the decision on the basis of specific emission profiles, financial position of the entities, and impact on the economy. The ETS must also obligate the emitters to design a ‘compliance plan’, setting out its own medium and long-term goals, with an explanation of how it would achieve them. As a high and unstable price can sound a death knell for the scheme, we have suggested three measures: safety valve trigger, price-based market stability reserve (‘MSR’), and banking. With this skeletal framework, India can be part of the global mission to curb climate change.