Rs 2,300-Crore E-Methanol Plant at Deendayal Port, Kandla: India’s First Port-Based Green Fuel Facility

Key facts

• India is setting up its first port-based e-methanol plant at Kandla, Gujarat, with a total investment of Rs 2,300 crore, developed by Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) and Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL).
• The plant will have a total production capacity of 150 tonnes per day, developed in two stages: a 50-tonne-per-day unit costing Rs 1,200 crore by January 2027, and an additional 100 tonnes per day costing Rs 1,100 crore by March 2027.
• The e-methanol, produced using renewable power, water and biogenic CO2, will be supplied to vessels operating on the Asia-Europe International Trade Corridor.
• DPA will own 76 per cent of the project, contributing Rs 567.32 crore in equity, 75 acres of land, desalinated water and green hydrogen, while APCL will hold the remaining 24 per cent.
• Green methanol is expected to be produced at about $750 per tonne against a global rate of around $1,300 per tonne, and the project is expected to generate more than 3,500 direct and indirect jobs.
• The project supports India's net-zero emissions target by 2070, and the government plans to add 100 ships to the merchant fleet over the next five years, aiming to make India one of the world's five largest ship-owning nations by 2047.
• Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone for the project.
• Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said the plant would make the Gujarat coast a gateway for green energy exports, while Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the partnership with APCL, based in Namrup, Assam, would connect the Northeast's energy potential with India's clean-energy ambitions.