The Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) has alloted 3400 acres of land to four corporate houses for setting up of 5.5 million tonnes per annum of green hydrogen producing units near Kandla port in Gujarat. 

“This port is one of the three ports that have been declared as a green hydrogen hub under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. We have allotted land to four players including Reliance Green Hydrogen and Green Chemicals Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Green Energy Tech Ltd, Welspun New Energy Ltd and AM Green Hydrogen Pvt Ltd . As per the plans shared, these companies are expected to set up around 5.5 million tonnes per annum capacity for producing green ammonia by 2030-31,” Sushil Kumar Singh, Chairman of Deendayal Port Authority, that manages and operates Kandla port, told businessline.

While L&T has been alloted 1900 acres, Reliance has been provided 900 acres, AM Green with 450 acres and Welspun with 150 acres. “The green hydrogen and its derivatives like methanol and green ammonia produced will be exported and will also be used as an alternate fuel bunkers for vessels that will come up in future.” Apart from Kandla, Tuticorin and Paradip are the other two ports which have been identified by the Central government to be developed as hydrogen hubs.

The Kandla port is also setting up 300 MLD or million litres per day of desalination plant that will address the water requirements for the proposed green hydrogen units at Kandla. “The port has already floated an Expression of Interest (EoI) for 300 MLD of desalination plant,” the DPA Chairman said. The power required for these green hydrogen projects will be 9 GWs. The companies will be sourcing renewable energy for these units.

Hydrogen Buses at Kandla

Earlier this week, the DPA has also signed an Memorandum of Understanding with NTPC which will be setting up a hydrogen plant at Kandla. “This hydrogen will be used for running hydrogen-powered buses at Kandla. They will be operating 11 hydrogen buses and they will charge per kilometer-cost from Kandla. These buses are expected to start running by August 2025,” Singh said.

According to a recent research conducted by BloombergNEF, Gujarat received $76 billion of investment proposals for setting up green hydrogen production, despite Uttar Pradesh offering the most generous incentives, The western State received the most proposals despite not having a dedicated green hydrogen policy in force. “Developers prefer States with access to ports for export of green hydrogen and its derivatives to Europe and Japan,” the report added.

Apart from Gujarat, coastal States like Maharashtra (USD 31.4 billion), Karnataka (USD 20.2 billion) and Odisha (USD 15.6 billion) have attracted a large chunk of the investments for proposed green hydrogen projects. Uttar Pradesh has so far attracted USD 13.8 billion worth of projects, the BloombergNEF report states.