NEW DELHI: Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday chaired a meeting with all major ports, CSL and IWAI to review the progress on various green initiatives being implemented as per Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 for the development of green ports and green shipping in India, stated a press release.
As part of MIV 2030, a total of 963 initiatives have been identified for implementation across major ports with an estimated investment of Rs. 6,77,720.24 crore, of which a total of 208 initiatives with an estimated investment of Rs. 44,424.47 crore have been completed in FY 2021. Another 504 initiatives with an estimated investment of Rs. 48,256.14 crore are under implementation.
A number of initiatives have been taken in India to promote green ecosystem in maritime sector. These are in line with International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s 2030 decarbonization strategy and 2050 Green House Gases (GHG) strategy. Initiatives are being implemented by major ports of India that include areas such as increasing share of renewable energy to more than 60% across major ports by 2030, setting up of solar power plants, availing of shore power supply to vessels via berths, multi-clean fuel adoption for vehicles within port ecosystem, gradual phasing out of diesel locomotives at ports, etc.
The Ministry is also working on draft of a 'Green Port Policy' document to suggest framework and guidelines for incorporation of green initiatives in the port sector. The Policy document captures the focused areas, measured outcomes, implementation roadmap and cost recovery mechanism for the port operators and port authorities. The proposed target outcomes will help India in achieving the 'Intended Nationally Determined Contributions' (INDCs) target, as well as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2030 target.
Possibilities are also being explored for deployment of fully electric ferry and hydrogen-fueled ferries at Inland Waterways for enhancement of river ferries in the country. For instance, Electric Catamaran Water Taxi deployment is being considered at Varanasi and Guwahati in the first phase. Additionally, use of Hybrid Electric Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) vessels having dual fuel system (LNG+ battery) is being considered at Guwahati for river crossings. Use of Hybrid LNG-electric Inland Cargo Carrier vessels is also being considered on NW2 and NW1. Possibility of deploying CNG vessels at Varanasi is also being explored.
The pace at which the Green initiatives are undertaken by the 12 major ports will surely bring a green revolution in the sector making the ports cleaner and greener, which is also a key component of 'Blue Economy', creating environmental benefits and balancing the investments and cash flow.
In his concluding Remarks, Sonowal thanked all officials for their crucial contribution towards realization of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for the Indian maritime sector. He further directed all ports to take the green initiatives forward by putting dedicated proactive efforts towards greening of maritime sector, including finalization of green port policy.
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