MoUs signed with technology partners to support shipbuilding project at Kandla, bunkering facility to be set up: Deendayal Port Authority Chairman

Deendayal Port Authority Chairman Sushil Kumar Singh on Thursday said that the port authority has signed MoUs with technology partners to support the shipbuilding project at Kandla. He also said that Deendayal Port Authority will also be setting up a bunkering facility which can supply greener fuels to the ships which are plying between Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Singapore.

Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of India Maritime Week 2025, Sushil Kumar Singh spoke about the MoUs aimed at boosting production of green sources of energy. "We will be setting up a bunkering facility which can supply greener fuels to the ships which are plying between Rotterdam and Singapore. It is projected that by 2030 around 200 vessels will be running on this Rotterdam-Singapore route and Kandla being nearer to this international trade corridor, are strategically located to take advantage of this position and market ourselves as one of the fuel suppliers, the green fuel suppliers to the world for the maritime sector. We identified the industry partners and signed MoUs with them," he said.

He said that MoUs worth around Rs 1.8 lakh crore have been signed with different industry partners to create an ecosystem for green molecules at Kandla Port. "We have signed MOUs worth around 1.8 lakh crores with different industry partners and the objective of these MOUs is to explore the possibility of working together and look for partners who are capable and have that expertise to help us in creating an ecosystem at Kandla port for green molecules, which will then converted into low carbon fuels or zero carbon fuels" Sushil Kumar Singh added.

He said the target set for the maritime sector for net zero under the decarbonisation push is 2050. Singh said the MoUs "are basically targeting setting up facilities at Kandla for the production of "green methanol, green hydrogen, and green ammonia."

"With this decarbonisation push, there is opportunity for us to create ship-building facilities at Kandla. We have also signed MoUs with technology partners and ship builders who can help us (in) structuring a project for Kandla for ship building and ship repair so that we can create a system in India which can cater to shipbuilding of commercial vessels of larger size which are capable of being deployed on trade routes," he said. He said the achievement of the event was that "we identified the industry partners, engaged with them, worked out the themes on which we will be working, and we have signed them."

Answering a query, he said the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to position the maritime sector of this country on the global map as a leader." PM Modi addressed the Maritime Leaders Conclave and chaired the Global Maritime CEO Forum at India Maritime Week 2025 in Mumbai on Wednesday. (ANI)