Gandhidham (Gujarat) [India], August 21 (ANI): Chairperson of the Deendayal Port Authority, Kandla, Sushil Kumar Singh on Friday called for adoption of greener fuels and energy-efficient technologies to bring down the carbon footprint of operations in the maritime sector.

During the Kandla Green Hydrogen Conclave 2026, Sushil Kumar Singh highlighted that the maritime sector contributes around three per cent of the total green hydrogen gas annually, and the sector has to take the initiative to bring down the Greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity in line with the Paris Agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in 2015.

The DPA chairperson said, “As we all know, the maritime sector contributes around three per cent of the total green hydrogen gas annually, and it’s one of the sectors which has to take initiative to bring down the Greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity in line with the Paris Agreement where the member countries and member states have agreed to restrict the temperature rise to ambient increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius.”

He noted the limitations of the energy efficiency component of the technologies, saying it cannot translate into zero-carbon emissions.

“The adoption of greener fuels, cleaner fuels, sustainable zero-emission fuels, along with the energy-efficient technologies that can help in bringing down the carbon footprint of operations in the maritime sector, that becomes important. The energy efficiency component of the technologies has its own limitations; it cannot translate into a zero-emission kind of output. So, the adoption of greener fuels is essential,” Sushil Kumar Singh said.

Earlier today, speaking on the sidelines of the Kandla Green Hydrogen Conclave 2026, Sushil Kumar Singh stated that the port has been designated as a Green Hydrogen Hub by the Centre, following the national focus on the ‘Sapth Dharah’ framework outlined on August 15.

“Kandla has taken a very aggressive approach towards implementing small pilot projects which can be a kind of technology demonstrator and also create confidence among industry to come in and invest in a big way for commercial scale for scaling up the solutions in green energy and energy transition solutions,” Singh stated.

“We have opened this port as a test bed, and we are offering it to anybody who wants to come up with this technology, test it here and prove it here and take it to the stage where the TRL levels go up, and then it can be scaled to commercial levels,” he added.

Kandla Green Hydrogen Conclave 2026 brought together thought leaders, industry experts and delegates from across the globe.

The Conclave commenced with a virtual video message by Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonwal and witnessed discussions and deliberations on Green Hydrogen, clean energy transition, sustainable port development and emerging green technologies, fostering global collaboration and exchange of ideas towards accelerating India’s green maritime ambitions. (ANI)