India advances dialogue on alternative marine fuels and bunkering competitiveness
Around 40 stakeholders, including shipowners, port authorities, fuel suppliers, financiers, technical organizations, and government representatives, convened in Mumbai for the Indian Maritime Alternative Fuels Policy and Investment Dialogue, held at the offices of the Indian Register of Shipping on 9 February 2026.
The dialogue was convened by the International Maritime Organization, through its GreenVoyage2050 programme, in collaboration with the Directorate General of Shipping and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. It formed part of an ongoing analytical effort to assess India’s potential demand for alternative marine fuels and its prospects as a competitive future bunkering hub. India’s participation in the dialogue marks a continuation of its engagement under the IMO’s GreenVoyage2050 programme, following its selection in 2025 as one of nine partner countries receiving pilot accelerator support to advance feasibility studies on low- and zero-GHG solutions.
Participants discussed preliminary findings from a study commissioned by IMO and carried out by DNV, which examines how India currently compares with established regional bunkering hubs in terms of delivered fuel pricing, where alternative-fuel bunkering demand could realistically emerge, and what conditions would be required to move from pilot activity to repeatable, commercially viable bunkering operations.
Opening the dialogue via video message, the Director General of Shipping underlined that
“Today we need to understand the global shipping sector is in a decisive transition decade and it is today that will shape the future tomorrow. The study will add volume, incisive logic, and refinement to India’s National Action Plan. India has to take on the challenge of becoming a regional bunkering hub for alternative marine fuels, and that will not happen overnight.”
Building on the analytical findings, participants engaged in structured breakout discussions focused on two core themes:
- How demand for alternative marine fuels can be strengthened, and
- How the overall cost of alternative fuels can be reduced over time.
Discussions centered on key demand-side barriers, including policy and regulatory uncertainty, contractual and commercial structures, and first-mover risk, as well as on cost drivers such as scale, financing conditions, and non-fuel cost components affecting delivered bunker prices.
The dialogue highlighted that strengthening demand signals and improving fuel price competitiveness will be critical to unlocking early investment and enabling alternative-fuel bunkering at scale. Participants also emphasized the need for close coordination across policy makers, port authorities, fuel suppliers, and shipowners to ensure that emerging opportunities translate into concrete market outcomes.
The insights generated through the dialogue will inform the next phase of analytical and policy work under the GreenVoyage2050 programme and support India’s ongoing development of a National Green Shipping Policy, with a focus on translating analysis into practical, implementable actions that can support early investment and scale-up.
GreenVoyage2050 Programme
GreenVoyage2050 is a major technical cooperation programme initiated by the International Maritime Organization to assist developing countries in reducing GHG emissions from shipping, in line with the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy.
Now in its second phase (2024–2030), GreenVoyage2050 is supporting partner countries in developing National Action Plans (NAPs) as well as implementing pilot projects to test solutions for reducing GHG emissions from ships.
Leveraging funding from the Governments of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, the GreenVoyage2050 Programme continues to expand, with new countries added each year.
