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.
- NCoEGPS is a major initiative working under the framework of the Sagarmala programme of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) towards providing greener solutions.
About NCoEGPS:
i.The main objective of NCoEGPS is to provide support to MoPSW in developing and maintaining a policy and regulatory framework for a green alternative technologies road map for the shipping sector in India to implement carbon neutrality and to meet obligations under the Paris Accord.
- The major five focus areas include, policy, regulatory and research; Human Resource development (HRD); Networking key partners and strategic collaborators; Exploring area of work, outcomes, projects and resources; engaging past events, upcoming events, dissemination.
ii.NCoEGPS will also provide training and analysis of the capacity of different stakeholders for fast-tracking the adoption of green measures identified through research.
Support:
i.The Deendayal Port Authority, Kandla(Gujarat), Paradip Port Authority, Paradip(Odisha) VO Chidambaranar Port Authority, Thoothukudi(Tamil Nadu) and Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi(Kerala) have all extended their support to the ministry for setting up NCoEGPS .
- The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is the knowledge and implementation partner for this project.
ii.The Centre will also help in policy and regulatory support to the MoPSW for developing regulatory framework and alternate technology adoption roadmap for green shipping to foster carbon neutrality and circular economy (CE) in India’s shipping sector.
Significance:
i.India intends to increase the share of renewable energy to 60% of the total power demand of each of its major ports from a present share of less than 10%, through solar and wind-generated power.
ii.The ports have aimed to reduce 30% of Carbon emissions per ton of cargo by 2030.
Efforts taken on carbon reduction:
i.The Maritime Vision Document 2030, is a 10-year blueprint on India’s vision of a sustainable maritime sector and vibrant blue economy.
ii.India has been selected as the first country under the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Green Voyage 2050 to conduct a pilot project related to Green Shipping.
- India will also be implementing International Maritime Organization (IMO) energy efficiency requirements for existing ships and carbon intensity requirements on all its vessels (coastal or international).
ii.India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement for the Period 2021-2030 include,
- Reduction of emission intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level.
- Achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030, with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance.
Note – India has already achieved more than 24.5% share of Renewable Energy (RE) in total Installed Capacity.
- Presently, India stands 4th in RE power capacity, 4th in Wind power, and 5th in Solar Power capacity globally.
Recent related news:
In September 2022, Union Minister of Ports, Shipyard & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal launched multiple projects for the development of the Bogibeel region near Dibrugarh, Assam.
About Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW):
Union Minister – Sarbananda Sonowal (Constituency – Rajya Sabha, Assam)
Minister of State (MoS) – Shripad Naik, Gurpreet Rajinder Singh, Pramod Kohli
