Key Details
A study titled, Study on Potential Demand and Pricing of Alternative Marine Fuels in India, prepared by maritime advisory organisation DNV for the IMO’s GreenVoyage2050 programme, assesses where demand may emerge and what Indian ports would need to offer to win it.
Finding | What the Study Shows |
|---|---|
Current scale | Indian ports recorded about 2.25 million tonnes of marine-fuel sales in 2024, against 54.92 million tonnes in Singapore. |
Projected alternative-fuel demand | 42–65 petajoules (PJ) by 2035 and 113–293 PJ by 2047, depending on the scenario. PJ measures energy, not fuel weight. |
First customers | Ships already calling at Indian ports, especially scheduled container vessels, offer a more dependable starting market than ships merely passing nearby. |
Priority gateways | Initial investment should focus on Mundra, Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), Chennai and Tuticorin, linked where practical to fuel-production hubs. |
Fuel sequence | The study favours methanol for an initial pilot, potentially at Mundra with supply from Deendayal (Kandla). It proposes preparing for ammonia later, once safety and supply systems mature. |
Cost test | In two modelled container-voyage cases, India needed delivered bio-methanol priced about 5.5% below a competing location, or e-ammonia about 7% below, to make bunkering here attractive. These are case-study results, not universal price targets. |
Ships Calling for Cargo Offer the First Market
India’s position on East–West shipping routes creates an opportunity, but nearby traffic is not assured demand: ships are unlikely to change course simply to refuel. Container vessels already stopping to load or unload cargo offer a more predictable customer base. Concentrating early supply at a few gateways could give fuel producers and ports the volumes needed to build dependable services without duplicating costly infrastructure everywhere.
The Price at the Ship Matters More Than the Price at the Plant
Renewable energy and biomass resources could help India produce alternative fuels. Ship operators, though, weigh the full cost and reliability of a port call—fuel delivered to the vessel, port and marine-service charges, time spent and the risk of delay.
The study’s comparison puts conventional heavy fuel oil at about US$545 per tonne at Indian ports, against US$353 in Singapore. Its indicative port-call fees are also markedly higher in India. These figures describe the study’s comparison of current conventional-fuel conditions; they are not forecasts of future green-fuel prices. They show why lower production costs alone would not secure India’s competitiveness.
Build a Working Service Before Expanding the Network
The proposed roadmap has three stages:
2026–2030: Establish safe, repeatable methanol bunkering at selected ports, with a potential Mundra pilot.
2030–2035: Expand where demand is demonstrated, share storage and fuel-delivery capacity across port clusters, and prepare port-specific safety procedures for ammonia.
2035–2047: Develop multi-fuel capability at commercially viable hubs and connect them with green shipping corridors.
Limited dedicated bunker vessels, fragmented approvals and fuel-specific safety requirements remain practical barriers to even the first stage.
What Is Alternative Marine-Fuel Bunkering?
Alternative Marine-Fuel Bunkering means supplying fuel to a ship. Alternative marine-fuel bunkering would supply fuels such as lower-carbon biofuels, renewable methanol or renewable ammonia in place of conventional oil-based marine fuels. Different fuels require different storage, delivery equipment, trained staff and safety procedures.
Policy Relevance
The study gives India’s developing National Green Shipping Policy a commercial test: can ports offer a fuel supply that ship operators will choose on price, reliability and turnaround time? The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, port authorities and fuel suppliers would need to coordinate production, storage, bunker vessels and cargo operations at the first gateways.
It also identifies decisions for regulators and government: clear approval and safety procedures, transparent port charges, training requirements and a review of how taxes affect delivered fuel prices. Before backing expansion, policymakers would need evidence of repeat customers, safe operations and infrastructure used often enough to justify its cost.
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