Centre aims green logistics at ports, eyes setting up EV charging infra

New Delhi: The union heavy industries ministry has consulted the ministry of ports, shipping, and waterways to determine locations across ports for installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, according to two officials aware of the development.

These EV charging stations will be installed on ports as a part of the ongoing ₹10,900-crore PM E-drive scheme, the officials said.

Email queries to the ministry of heavy industries and the ministry of ports, shipping, and waterways were unanswered till press time.

The government has allocated a massive corpus of ₹2,000 crore towards installation of EV charging stations across the country to ensure charging connectivity for India’s rapidly growing electric vehicle market.

Two kinds of vehicles are likely to need EV charging stations on ports as electrification of mobility takes its course in the country—ground operations in ports, and cargo and commercial vehicles such as trucks.

The government, under the PM E-drive scheme, has allocated ₹500 crore towards subsidizing electric trucks for operators, identifying it as a sunrise sector when the scheme was announced in October 2024.

Trucks are used in every part of the port ecosystem, and once electrified, will need charging infrastructure readily available in ports. They bring in cargo to the port premises, which is then offloaded using forklifts, and moved around inside the port using tugs.

After adequate charging infra

These port operations can be electrified once adequate charging infrastructure is present.

The expansion of EV charging infrastructure across the country is also happening at a time when the government has decided to focus on rapid expansion of its port infrastructure.

For instance, the Centre has started work on developing the Vadhawan port in Maharashtra, which is slated to become the country’s largest by cargo handling capacity. The cost of developing the port is expected to be about ₹76,220 crore, and it will have a cargo handling capacity of nearly 300 million metric tonnes.

Economic activity in Indian ports is also set to rise manifold as the government is focusing on decongesting roadways that connect trade hubs to ports. For instance, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the cabinet’s approval for a new six-lane highway in Maharashtra connecting the hinterlands to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) near Mumbai.

Electrification of port vehicles is also a crucial factor to reduce carbon emissions of ports, and contribute to the goal of India becoming a net-zero emission economy by 2070.

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The development follows the MHI’s consultation with the ministry of road transport and highways, as well as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for similar installation of charging stations on highways and in airports, respectively. Mint reported on 27 December that the government’s plans to electrify intra-airport mobility were beginning to take shape.

The consideration to adopt electric mobility at ports is in line with the shipping ministry’s plans to reduce carbon emission at these ports as India eyes to become maritime hub.

The shipping ministry in May 2023 launched the ‘Harit Sagar’ green port guidelines with an aim to reduce carbon intensity and to develop an environment friendly ecosystem at major ports through optimization of port procedures, inducting green technologies, reducing wastages, taking steps for reducing the carbon intensity per unit of cargo handled.

As a part of its commitment in COP 26 towards climate action, India has pledged to reduce the emission intensity per unit GDP by 45% by 2030. With the maritime sector handling 95% of India’s foreign trade volume and accounting for 65% of trade value, greening the operations at ports becomes a major component of the overall net zero goals.