Parliament Question: India’s maritime green hydrogen and electrification initiatives in eastern ports

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.476 ANSWERED ON 03.02.2026 INDIA'S MARITIME GREEN HYDROGEN AND ELECTRIFICATION INITIATIVES IN EASTERN PORTS

476. SHRI SUJEET KUMAR:

Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the status of India's commitment of USD 20 billion for maritime infrastructure, including Green Hydrogen hubs at Paradip, as announced during Nor-Shipping 2025 in Oslo;

(b) the planned scale and timelines for green hydrogen bunkering, renewable port energy and electrification of inland waterways across eastern ports;

(c) whether Paradip and Dhamra ports in Odisha have been shortlisted for such green corridors; and

(d) the actions being initiated to encourage indigenous electric ferries and cargo vessels, including potential clustering around Odisha waterways, under the Green Voyage 2050 and inland waterways initiatives? ANSWER MINISTER OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(a)& (c) The status of India’s maritime infrastructure development initiatives are as

under:

(i) Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFAS), with a total corpus of Rs. 24,736 crore, has been introduced to promote shipbuilding in India. Under the scheme, financial assistance ranging from 15% to 25% per vessel will be provided. The scheme also introduces a Shipbreaking Credit Note, which will offer shipowners an incentive equivalent to 40% of fair scrap value of the vessel for recycling ships in India and supporting new shipbuilding orders. In addition, the scheme envisages the establishment of a National Shipbuilding Mission to oversee implementation and coordination, with the objective of supporting shipbuilding projects worth Rs. 96,000 crore over the next decade.

(ii) Shipbuilding Development Scheme (SbDS), with a corpus of Rs. 19,989 crore, has been introduced for Capacity & Capability development and credit risk coverage to accelerate shipbuilding capacity in India through targeted interventions for new infrastructure, modernization of existing facilities, and risk mitigation.(iii) Maritime Development Fund (MDF), with a corpus of Rs. 25,000 crore, has been established to provide long-term financing support to the maritime sector.

(iv) Around 227 projects worth Rs. 1.16 lakh crores are at various stages of implementation in Major ports for capacity enhancement, multimodal logistics, port connectivity &trade facilitation.

(v) Three Major ports i.e. Deendayal Port in Gujarat, V.O. Chidambaranar Port in Tamil Nadu and Paradip Port in Odisha have been recognised by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy as green hydrogen hubs in the country.

(b) A pilot Green Methanol bunkering facility is under construction at V.O.

Chidambaranar Port in Tamil Nadu under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. As envisaged in the Maritime India Vision 2030, all Major Ports are targeted to achieve more than 60% of their energy requirement from renewable sources by 2030. Further, onshore electric power supply facilities have been provided at 16 terminals on National Waterway-1 (River Ganga) and National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra) by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).

(d) To encourage indigenous electric ferries and advance eco-friendly inland water transport, the IWAI has procured four Hybrid Electric Catamaran Vesselsfrom Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). The first two have been deployed at Varanasi (River Ganga–NW-1) and Ayodhya (River Ghaghra–NW-40). Further, third one has already arrived at Gaighat Terminal in Patna (NW-1) and fourth one is deployed in Kolkata (NW-1) in January 2026. As part of aResearch &Development initiative with the CSL, the IWAI launched India’s first hydrogen-powered catamaran, now operational in Varanasi.

Under the International Maritime Organization (lMO) Green Voyage 2050 Programme, a study on potential demand and pricing of alternative marine fuels in lndiais presently being conducted by IMO in collaboration with Directorate General of Shipping (DGS).

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