India to build 1st port-based Rs 2,300 crore e-methanol plant at Kandla to supply green fuel to ships

NEW DELHI: India is looking to turn its ports into green-fuel hubs as it moves to supply low-carbon fuel to international shipping, with a Rs 2,300-crore e-methanol plant being set up at Kandla in Gujarat.Union ports, shipping and waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the project marked a shift towards India supplying the fuel that powers global maritime trade.“India moves up as the world's leading maritime power; it will now power the world's ships with green energy,” Sonowal said at the foundation stone ceremony on Saturday.The plant, being developed by Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) and Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL), will have a total production capacity of 150 tonnes per day. It will use renewable power, water and biogenic CO2 to make e-methanol, which will be supplied to vessels operating on the Asia-Europe International Trade Corridor.The project will be developed in two stages. The first 50-tonne-per-day unit, costing Rs 1,200 crore, is scheduled to be completed by January 2027. Another 100 tonnes per day will be added under the second phase at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore, with completion targeted for March 2027.The government said the plant is expected to produce green methanol at about $750 per tonne, compared with a global rate of around $1,300 per tonne. It is also expected to generate more than 3,500 direct and indirect jobs.DPA will own 76 per cent of the project and APCL the remaining 24 per cent. DPA's contribution includes Rs 567.32 crore in equity, 75 acres of land, desalinated water and renewable energy in the form of green hydrogen.The project also links India's maritime expansion with its broader decarbonisation plans. The government said it will contribute to the country's target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, while supporting energy self-reliance and domestic manufacturing.The Kandla facility is part of a wider push to expand India's maritime capacity. The government plans to add 100 ships to the country's merchant fleet over the next five years and aims to make India one of the world's five largest ship-owning nations by 2047.Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel said the project would turn the state's renewable-energy potential into an export opportunity.“Kutch and the long coastline of Gujarat will now power the world's ships through Kandla,” Patel said, adding that the plant would make the Gujarat coast a gateway for India's green energy exports.The project also brings together DPA and APCL, which is based in Namrup, Assam. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the partnership would connect the Northeast's energy potential with India's wider clean-energy ambitions.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.