Policy Update
Ravirala Lahari
Background
India’s ports handle nearly 95 percent of the country’s trade by volume and about 65-70 percent by value, positioning the maritime sector as a critical lever for both economic growth and climate action (PIB, 2026, feb26). The “Harit Sagar” Green Port Guidelines, issued by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) in May 2023, are a unified national framework giving all Major Ports quantified, time-bound decarbonisation targets.
it was introduced to operationalise three overlapping national commitments:
- COP26 Commitments: Reducing economy-wide emission intensity by 45% by 2030 (from 2005 levels) and achieving a 50% non-fossil installed power capacity share by 2030.
- Long-Term Net-Zero: Achieving nation-wide net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
- Sectoral Visions: Operationalising the Sustainable Maritime pillars of Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.
Harit Sagar (Sanskrit for ‘green ocean’) is a guidance document. It operates as an overarching, strategic guidance roadmap rather than a static regulation. The framework covers green cover expansion, equipment electrification, vessel fuel transition, renewable energy generation, shore-to-ship power, effluent discharge control, and incentive mechanisms, each tied to quantified targets for year 2030 and 2047 benchmarked against an FY 2022-23 baseline.
It also introduces Environment Performance Indicators (EPIs), mandatory annual audits, and a national rating and recognition mechanism (the Sagar Shreshtha Samman awards), converting a previously ad hoc effort into a structured, comparable national programme.
Functioning
Instead of applying a rigid, one-size-fits-all legal decree, Harit Sagar establishes a decentralized execution and central tracking operational model:
- Customized Action Planning: Baseline benchmarks are pegged to FY 2022–23. Each Major Port designs its own action plan mapped around Environmental Performance Indicators (EPIs) tailored to its specific cargo profile, spatial capacity, and operational footprint.
- Real-Time Telemetry Infrastructure: Ports deploy three continuous, automated monitoring feeds:
- Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Systems (CAAQMS)
- Continuous Marine Water Quality Monitoring Systems (CMWQMS)
- Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring Systems (OCEMS)
- These sensors push data directly into MoPSW’s central Sagarmanthan dashboard for real-time visibility (Harit Sagar Green Port Guidelines, 2023).
- Audit & Accountability Cycle: By 30 April every year, each port must publish an independent Environmental Audit on its public portal. Performance metrics feed into the Green Performing Ports ranking, with top-performing port authorities recognized via the Sagar Shreshtha Samman awards.
- Sustainability Disclosure: GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) Standards provide a widely used framework for organisations to report their environmental, social and economic impacts. While GRI is distinct from the Harit Sagar framework, its reporting principles can complement Harit Sagar’s Environmental Performance Indicators by improving the consistency and transparency of sustainability disclosures
- Institutional Backing & Knowledge Transfer: Tech support, baseline standardization, and capacity building are anchored by the National Centre of Excellence for Green Port and Shipping (NCoEGPS), supported by TERI as a knowledge partner.
Macro level policy integration
- Alignment with National Blue Economy Plans
Harit Sagar acts as the implementation arm of Maritime India Vision 2030 and Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, turning their broad decarbonisation goals into concrete port-level targets. It also feeds into Sagarmala by requiring new berths and logistics infrastructure to adopt low-emission technology from the outset. - Synergy with Clean Energy Missions
The National Green Hydrogen Mission supplies the storage and bunkering infrastructure ports needed for hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol. The Green Tug Transition Programme adds the charging and fuelling network for clean harbour craft. And the Harit Nauka guidelines extend the same green push to inland waterways and ferries, linking river and ocean transport under one sustainability push. - Legal and Climate Backing
Harit Sagar supports India’s COP26 and net-zero-2070 commitments by pushing ports toward clean self-generated power. The Indian Ports Act, 2025 (section 12) gives it legal teeth, turning what were advisory benchmarks into enforceable requirements.
Performance
Harit Sagar’s implementation shows a shift from setting long-term environmental targets to translating them into concrete port-level investments, pilot projects and electrification initiatives. Renewable energy adoption, green hydrogen infrastructure and electric harbour tugs indicate progress across key areas, while rising cargo volumes highlight the importance of measuring sustainability through efficiency and emissions intensity rather than absolute reductions alone.
| Indicator | Target by 2030 | Target by 2047 |
| Renewable energy share at ports | >60% | >90% |
| Port equipment / vehicles electrified | >50% | >90% |
| Area under green belt | >20% | >33% |
| CO₂ emissions per tonne of cargo (baseline: 2023) | >30% reduction | >70% reduction |
| GHG emissions – coastal & EXIM vessels | >10% reduction | >50% reduction |
| Freshwater consumption per tonne of cargo (baseline: 2023) | >20% reduction | – |
| Recycling & reuse of consumed water | 100% | – |
| Energy consumption per tonne of cargo (baseline: 2023) | >20% reduction | – |
Table 1: Harit Sagar: Key Sustainability Targets
Source: Harit Sagar Green Port Guidelines: May, 2023
Implementation Outcomes & Port-Level Benchmarks
A. Renewable Energy Transition
New Mangalore Port now meets 100% source, its power demand through solar, the national benchmark for renewable adoption. MoPSW’s 2025 data also records renewable installations at Visakhapatnam, VOC, Cochin, Chennai, Paradip, Mormugao, JNPA and Haldia, though scale and technology vary widely by port (PIB, 2025).
Takeaway: The >60% renewable target for 2030 is technically achievable, but adoption remains uneven across ports.
B. Green Hydrogen, Ammonia & Alternative Fuels
- Deendayal Port (Kandla): 1 MW electrolyser-based green hydrogen plant was commissioned, 3,400 acres were allotted for hydrogen/ammonia developers (DPA Achieves a Major Milestone With a Megawatt-Scale Green Hydrogen Plant:, 2025).
- VOC Port: 10 Nm³/hr green hydrogen pilot plant commissioned (2025) for street lighting and EV charging, green methanol bunkering facility under development (Green Hydrogen Pilot Project at VOC Port in Tamil Nadu, 2025).
- Paradip Port: for handling green hydrogen, ammonia and other liquid cargo at Paradip Port at an estimated cost of ₹797.17 crore. The project will be implemented by Paradip Port Authority on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis(Paradip Port to Anchor National Green Hydrogen Mission, 2026).
Takeaway: Implementation is shifting from pilot-scale production to dedicated handling and bunkering infrastructure for alternative fuels.
C. Green Tug & Maritime Electrification
Deendayal, JNPA, Visakhapatnam and VOC Ports have placed work orders for electric harbour tugs under the Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP), Deendayal has begun construction. GTTP targets 50 green tugs by 2030, with 16 in its first phase (2024–27)(GTTP Phase-1).
Takeaway: GTTP gives Harit Sagar’s fossil-fuel-reduction goal for port craft a concrete delivery mechanism.
D. Scale of Port Activity
India’s major ports handled 855 million tonnes of cargo in FY 2024-25 – up from 581 million tonnes in FY 2014– 15, reflecting a decadal growth of 47.16 % (PIB, 2025).
Why it matters: With cargo volumes rising, decarbonisation must keep pace with growth making Harit Sagar’s per-tonne indicators (CO₂, energy, freshwater use) the more meaningful measure of progress than absolute figures
Impact
Environmental & Carbon Footprint
The guidelines are cutting ports’ carbon intensity per tonne of cargo, targeting 30% by 2030 and 70% by 2047. Onshore Power Supply and electric harbour tugs are lowering PM2.5/PM10 and sulphur levels in port cities by replacing diesel auxiliary power. And 4R practices (Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle) are pushing ports toward zero-waste discharge, turning dredged silt into construction material instead of waste.
Economic & Trade
The framework is decoupling emissions from cargo growth, so throughput can rise toward 855 million tonnes without a proportional emissions rise. Adopting internationally recognised sustainability-reporting frameworks such as GRI could strengthen the transparency of port-level environmental disclosure and potentially improve access to green finance and low-carbon shipping partnerships.
Industrial Transformation (Energy & Hydrogen)
Green hydrogen, ammonia and methanol hubs coming up at Deendayal, Paradip and V.O. Chidambaranar, are gradually turning ports from fuel consumers into clean-energy suppliers. This shift has already drawn sizable private investment, most visibly Paradip’s ₹797.17 crore green ammonia jetty under PPP, as mentioned earlier.
Operational & Digital
Digital platforms such as Sagar Setu, working alongside clean-fuel mandates, are cutting truck idling at port gates and speeding up cargo turnaround while reducing fuel use. Mandatory real-time tracking of Environmental Performance Indicators is, in turn, giving terminal operators clearer visibility into energy waste and operational bottlenecks.
Sustainability Linkage
Taken together, these outcomes feed into several Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water).
V.O. Chidambaranar Port: Sustainability in Practice
V.O. Chidambaranar Port’s sustainability reporting highlights measurable progress towards greener port operations, including an around 45% reduction in net carbon emissions. Its circular-economy initiatives include waste-to-energy solutions and conversion of refuse-derived fuel into green methanol as a cleaner fuel option (VOC Port – Sustainability Report 2026 – Towards a Green Maritime Future, 2026). These measures illustrate the practical shift towards decarbonisation, resource recovery and sustainable port operations envisaged under Harit Sagar.
Challenges
- The transition carries a heavy price tag. Building green hydrogen hubs, upgrading shore-to-ship power, and retrofitting diesel equipment all demand large upfront capital, and many ports operate on thin margins that make quick investment difficult. worsened by thin domestic bunkering infrastructure and import dependence for green-maritime tech.
- Coordination adds another layer of difficulty. The sector spans terminal operators, shipping lines, customs, truck fleets and logistics providers, making it hard to align everyone to a common green benchmark. The central mandate covers only Major Ports, hundreds of minor ports under states or private operators remain outside its reach, fragmenting national progress (LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5533, 2026).
- The guidelines themselves are advisory rather than binding, relying on self-drafted port action plans and annual audits rather than enforceable mandates, much of the text still reads as “shall make efforts” or “may,” a gap the Indian Ports Act, 2025 is meant to partly close.
- Progress also varies sharply by port, there is a wide gap visible between top and bottom performers on renewables. Reflecting uneven capacity, funding access and institutional commitment rather than a uniform pace of change.
- Monitoring is another weak link. Real-time emissions and effluent tracking systems, along with integration into the central Sagarmanthan dashboard, were meant to roll out within 6–18 months but remain unevenly visible across ports, leaving real-time EPI data patchy and hard to verify.
- The 2030 target of sourcing over 60% of port energy from renewables assumes battery storage and grid capacity that, in many regions, the surrounding power grid isn’t yet green or stable enough to support: meaning electrification alone cannot deliver deep decarbonisation without matching upgrades to the regional grid.
Way Forward
Financing and Self-Reliance
Blended capital- the Maritime Development Fund, green bonds, and PPP risk-sharing can keep hydrogen hubs and shore power projects from stalling on tight port margins. Building domestic manufacturing for electric port craft, batteries, and bunkering equipment, in line with Atmanirbhar Bharat, would cut import dependence over time.
Institutional Coordination
A single nodal mechanism, possibly under NCoEGPS, could align terminal operators, shipping lines, customs, and state maritime boards around common benchmarks. Extending Harit Sagar’s spirit to non-Major ports, even through informal model guidelines, would narrow the current jurisdictional divide.
Targeted Policy Incentives for Green Hydrogen Infra
Introduce dedicated financial and fiscal incentives, to de-risk private investment in common-user infrastructure. This will catalyze the rapid development of storage terminals, bunkering facilities, and evacuation pipelines essential for scaling coastal hydrogen and green ammonia hubs.
Monitoring and Data Transparency
Faster CAAQMS/CMWQMS/OCEMS rollout and a publicly accessible Sagarmanthan dashboard would allow independent verification instead of self-reported audits, while standardised baselines would close current comparability gaps.
Climate Resilience Alongside Decarbonisation
Resilience investment- especially for Bay of Bengal ports should be budgeted alongside renewable spending, not instead of it, so storm response doesn’t keep crowding out decarbonisation goals.
Grid Readiness
Since deep electrification depends on the surrounding grid, port renewable targets need to be paired with regional grid-greening and storage investment, ideally coordinated with state power utilities rather than left to individual ports to solve alone.
India’s green maritime journey articulates a new wave of vision that combines economic growth with ecological oversight. Anchored in a firm policy framework, technological advancement, and collaborative efforts, this agenda reflects India’s commitment to balancing trade competitiveness with environmental protection. Continued progress in renewable energy, decarbonised shipping, and coastal ecosystem restoration positions India as a pioneer of sustainable ocean governance.
References:
- DPA achieves a major milestone with a Megawatt-Scale Green Hydrogen Plant:. (2025, july 31). PIB. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2150882®=48&lang=2
- Green Hydrogen Pilot Project at VOC Port in Tamil Nadu. (2025, sep 05). Press Release Page | Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2164314®=48&lang=2
- Harit Sagar Green Port Guidelines. (2023). Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. https://shipmin.gov.in/sites/default/files/Harit%20Sagar%20-%20Green%20Port%20Guidelines%20.pdf
- KASWAN, R., GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS, & SONOWAL, S. (2026). DEVELOPMENT OF GREEN PORTS AND MARITIME INFRASTRUCTURE. In LOK SABHA. https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/187/AU5533_pa6ZMN.pdf?source=pqals
- Paradip Port to Anchor National Green Hydrogen Mission. (2026, Feb 26). Press Release: Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=2233235®=3&lang=2
- PIB. (2025, Dec 15). India’s Green Maritime Odyssey | Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2203895®=3&lang=2
- PIB. (2026, feb 26). India Set to Become Global Maritime Powerhouse; Among Top Shipping Centres by 2047: MOS Shantanu Thakur | Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2233239®=3&lang=1
- Gavankar, A. K. (2026, January 20). Harit Sagar decoded: India’s Green push for the blue. orfonline.org. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/harit-sagar-decoded-india-s-green-push-for-the-blue
- Ladumor, D., Chauhan, P., Asati, R., GMB Polytechnic, Rajula, IITRAM, Ahmedabad, & MoPSW, New Delhi. (2025). INDIA’S MARITIME SECTOR IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE: ALIGNING NATIONAL VISIONS WITH THE IMO’S NET-ZERO PATHWAY. In GMU Journal of Maritime Research (Vol. 1, Issue 2) [Journal-article]. https://gmu.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CH03_issue2.pdf
- Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. (2023). Green Port Guidelines. https://shipmin.gov.in/sites/default/files/Harit%20Sagar%20-%20Green%20Port%20Guidelines%20.pdf
- VOC Port – Sustainability Report 2026 – Towards a Green Maritime Future. (2026). V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority. https://www.vocport.gov.in/media/downloads
About the Contributor
Lahari is a Public Administration and Governance postgraduate from the Central University of Karnataka, with a keen interest in Urban Governance, Public Policy, and Sustainable Development. Committed to making governance more inclusive, sustainable and having a tangible impact on citizens’ lives.
Reviewed by: Ayana, and Anamika P K
Acknowledgement
I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to IMPRI (Impact and Policy Research Institute) for providing me with the opportunity to prepare this policy update article and for fostering a rigorous learning environment that connects research with public policy practice.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of IMPRI (Impact and Policy Research Institute) or any other affiliated organisation.
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