Deendayal Port Authority, ICCT sign MoU to curb port, shipping emissions: Why it matters

The Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) in a move to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollution emissions across the Kandla-based port.

Specifically, the MoU will push for more research into such emissions and the development of actionable strategies to curb them.

In doing so, the DPA-ICCT partnership is expected to bring about scalable solutions to make port operations more sustainable, boost the use of cleaner fuels, and support India's maritime decarbonisation efforts.

It will also look at key policy and market mechanisms changes required to support the transition to low-emission and zero-emission port and shipping systems.

Headquartered in Washington D.C., the research-based nonprofit provides technical analyses to environmental regulators.

"We will identify practical, high-impact solutions—from cleaner marine fuels to electric trucks & zero-emission port equipment—that can substantially reduce emissions while enhancing operational efficiency," said Amit Bhatt, Managing Director, ICCT India.

This is also significant as the Deendayal Port became India's top port in terms of cargo handling earlier this year, dethroning the Paradip Port in Odisha after two years.

It became the first major port in India to handle 160.11 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY 2025-26—3.66 MMT more than the Paradip Port, which had logged in 156.45 MMT over the same period.

The port is also engaged in a number of other sustainability initiatives. In fact, earlier this month, it also became the first in the country to conduct a shore-to-ship methanol bunkering trial, pumping methanol directly from shore tanks into a vessel in a demonstration.

The trial was conducted in collaboration with Stolt Tankers, J M Baxi, Aegis Vopak and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), and was independently verified on-site by DNV Maritime Advisory Services, one of the world's top maritime classification bodies. 

In that regard, at the start of the year, the DPA had also signed an MoU with Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APCL) at Dibrugarh for a new e-methanol plant with a capacity of 150 tonnes per day (TPD).

At around that time, the DPA had also awarded Oswal Greenzo Energies a contract for the production of India's first port-based green hydrogen plant under the central government's Sagarmala initiative.

The contract for the 5 megawatt (MW) plant will be executed on an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) basis, and can be expanded up to 10MW using common infrastructure. The plant is expected to generate more than 800 tonnes of green hydrogen annually.