Kandla port to convert invasive Kutch shrub into bio-methanol in Rs 100 crore pilot project

The Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) in Gujarat is developing India’s first bio-methanol demonstration plant using Prosopis juliflora — the invasive shrub locally known as gando bawal — as its primary feedstock, in a project that aims to turn an ecological burden into a source of clean marine fuel, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.

The pilot project, estimated to cost approximately Rs 100 crore, is currently at the engineering stage and is slated for commissioning by March 2027. It is being developed as a technology demonstration unit under the Harit Sagar Guidelines (2023) and Maritime India Vision 2030, both of which are aimed at driving India’s ports towards net-zero targets.

The project involves two technology partners. Ankur Scientific Energy Technology Limited is responsible for converting the biomass into syngas, while Thermax Limited will handle the subsequent syngas-to-methanol synthesis. At full capacity, the plant will produce around five tonnes of methanol per day, consuming 15 to 20 tonnes of biomass in the process.

Ankur Jain, Managing Director of Ankur Scientific Energy Technology Limited, said the company would work with local communities to collect gando bawal for use as feedstock, adding that supply was not a concern. He noted that the process was also flexible enough to accept other agricultural residues such as peanut shells and sawdust. On pricing, Jain said bio-methanol would be cheaper than electro-methanol — which is synthesised from green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide — but more expensive than conventional fossil-fuel-derived methanol. Costs are expected to fall as the technology is scaled up and optimised.

The production process begins with high-temperature gasification of the biomass in a low-oxygen environment, passing it through four stages — drying, pyrolysis, oxidation, and reduction — to generate syngas, a combustible mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxides. The syngas is then cleaned, its composition adjusted through a water-gas shift reaction, and compressed before being fed into a methanol synthesis reactor containing a copper-based catalyst operating at 200 to 300 degrees Celsius and 50 to 100 bar of pressure. The resulting methanol is condensed and refined through distillation to produce fuel-grade output for industrial or maritime use.

For DPA, the bio-methanol produced is expected to be blended with conventional fuel to power tugs and other port service vessels during the pilot phase, while generating operational data on feedstock logistics, process stability, and integration within port infrastructure.

The bio-methanol project sits within a significantly larger strategic plan. DPA is simultaneously evaluating a Rs 3,500 crore electro-methanol project with a capacity of 1.5 to 2 lakh tonnes per annum, as part of its ambition to establish Kandla as a major bunkering hub for low-carbon fuels on the busy Rotterdam-to-Singapore shipping corridor by the end of the decade. The port is targeting supply to nearly 200 methanol-fuelled vessels operating along this route by 2030, and has set a goal of securing up to 500,000 tonnes per annum of green e-methanol by 2028-29.

Methanol bunkering at DPA has already moved from planning to execution. On April 2, 2026, the port successfully completed its first shore-to-ship methanol bunkering trial, with participation from Stolt Tankers, JM Baxi, Aegis Vopak, and Indian Oil Corporation Limited, and technical verification by classification society DNV. The port is now preparing for ship-to-ship bunkering operations in its next phase of development.