On May 10, 2023, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Homoeopathy), launched ‘Harit Sagar Guidelines – 2023’, the Green Port Guidelines, in New Delhi, Delhi.
- The guidelines were prepared by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways to meet the larger vision of achieving the Zero Carbon Emission Goal.
Key Points:
i.Objective: The objective of the guidelines is to minimize waste through Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle to attain zero waste discharge from port operations and promote monitoring, based on Environmental Performance Indicators.
ii.Framework for Ports: The Guidelines provide a framework for the Major Ports empowering them to create a comprehensive action plan aimed at achieving quantified reduction in carbon emission over defined timelines and Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG).
iii.The guidelines also includes aspects of National Green Hydrogen Mission pertaining to ports, development of green hydrogen facility, bunkering greener fuels like Green Hydrogen, Green Ammonia, and Green Methanol or Ethanol, Offshore Wind Energy etc, and provide provision for adopting global Green Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard.
iv.As per the statement of Sarbananda Sonowal Ports are undertaking green initiatives and actively contributing to the fulfillment of the “Panchamrit” commitments announced by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
‘Sagar Shreshtha Samman’ Awards 2023:
On May 10, 2023 at ‘Harit Sagar Guidelines – 2023’ launch event, the ‘Sagar Shreshtha Samman Awards 2023’ were also conferred to major ports for their all-time best performance on select operational and financial parameters during FY 2022-23.
- Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) (Andhra Pradesh) received Sagar Shrestha Samman Award 2023 from Sarbananda Sonowal. VPA’s chairman M Angamuthu received the award.
Other Recipients of Sagar Shreshtha Samman Awards 2023:
Port | Category |
|---|---|
Paradip Port, Jagatsinghpur (Odisha) | Awarded as best port for the year 2022-23 |
Awarded for best incremental performance for attaining the highest cargo growth rate of 16.56% in FY23 | |
Received a performance shield on Ship Berth Day Output | |
Deendayal Port, Kandla (Gujarat) | Awarded for the best Absolute Performance for the year FY23 for handling the highest cargo of 137.56 MMT |
Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai(Maharashtra) | Awarded for achieving major milestone in Turn Around Time |
Kamarajar Port, Chennai (Tamil Nadu) | Awarded for pre-berthing detention time |
| Cochin Port (Kerala) | Received a performance shield in turn-around time (non-container port) |
Note – The four major ports Deendayal Port, Visakhapatnam Port (Andhra Pradesh), New Mangalore Port (Karnataka) and V. O. Chidambaranar Port (Tamil Nadu) are already generating renewable energy more than their demand.
Recent Related News:
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal launched India’s first National Centre of Excellence for Green Port & Shipping (NCoEGPS), at the ‘INMARCO 2022’, International Maritime Conference and Exhibition, held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
About Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways:
Union Minister -Sarbananda Sonowal (Rajya Sabha – Assam)
Minister of State (MoS) – Shantanu Thakur, Shripad Yesso Naik
