Union Minister Sonowal Releases Green Port Guidelines For 2023

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways has introduced "Harit Sagar," the Green Port Guidelines, to fulfill the greater objective of achieving the zero carbon emission goal.

Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, released the guidelines in the presence of Shripad Y Naik, Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Tourism, and other top Ministry officials in New Delhi on Thursday.

The Green Port Guidelines stresses on the use of clean, green energy in port operations as well as the development of port capabilities for the storage, processing, and bunkering of greener fuels such as green hydrogen, green ammonia, green methanol/ethanol, etc.

These recommendations offer a framework for the major ports to create a detailed action plan for achieving targeted results in terms of a quantified reduction in carbon emissions over specified timelines, through targeted implementation and close monitoring of green initiatives, and to achieve Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG).

Ports are implementing green initiatives and actively helping to accomplish the "Panchamrit" commitments made public by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

“The “Harit Sagar” Guidelines- 2023 provide a comprehensive framework for our major ports, empowering them to create a comprehensive action plan aimed at achieving quantifiable reductions in carbon emissions over defined timelines,” he added.

The goal of the recommendations is to reduce trash using the four R's: reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle in order to achieve zero waste discharge from port operations and to encourage monitoring based on environmental performance indicators.

This also addresses components of the National Green Hydrogen Mission related to ports, the creation of green hydrogen facilities, LNG bunkering, offshore wind energy, and includes a provision for adopting the GRI standard.

‘The launch of the Harit Sagar Green Port Guidelines is a significant step towards achieving our sustainability goals. These guidelines have been formulated with the aim of promoting environmental friendly practices across all our Ports, said Shripad Naik, MoS, MoPSW during the event.

The Deendayal Port in Kandla received the prize for the greatest absolute performance for the fiscal year 2022–2023 for handling the most cargo—137.56 MMT. While Paradip Port won a performance shield for Ship Berth Day Output, Jawaharlal Nehru Port was recognised for reaching a significant milestone in turnaround time. While Cochin Port (a non-container port) obtained a performance shield in turn-around time, Kamarajar Port was recognised in pre-berthing detention time.

The Paradip Port won the prize for the best incremental performance after recording the highest cargo growth rate of 16.56% the previous year. The best ship berth day output award in the incremental category went to Mormugao Port, and the best pre-berthing detention time award went to Kamarajar Port.

On the basis of overall annual performance measured by cargo handling, average turnaround time, ship birthday output, idle time at berth, operating ratio, and pre-berthing detention, Paradip Port was given the prize for best port.

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