JNPA Partners With IFC for Blue Financing Framework

Mumbai: Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) on Monday said it has secured Rs 70 million blue financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the maritime sector.

As part of the agreement, IFC will finance multiple projects at the premier container port.

The collaboration aims to elevate India’s maritime sector by setting new benchmarks for its ports and elevating them to meet global standards, JNPA said in a statement.

This strategic collaboration with a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector aims to raise targeted capital dedicated exclusively to building eco-friendly, resilient port infrastructure and advancing India’s blue economy, it said.

IFC’s USD 70 million investment will finance shore power supply (SPS) infrastructure across JNPA’s terminals and enable ships at berth to switch off diesel engines and connect to land-based electricity — cutting carbon emissions by 63 per cent, reducing harmful air pollution by up to 90 per cent, and creating over 400 jobs, the port operator said.

As the first labelled ‘blue financing’ for port infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific, this project is among the first to be aligned with the new Blue Finance guidelines of the Indian Ports Act, 2025.

The transaction also represents a historic milestone as the first DFI investment in India’s state-owned major port authorities, JNPA said.

Shore power technology is new to Indian ports as no major Indian port has yet deployed it at scale commercially, it said, adding that IFC’s long-term financing is expected to support the adoption of this emerging technology and demonstrate a replicable financing model that could facilitate similar investments across other Indian ports.

“Indian ports have not yet commercialised SPS at scale. Funding from international development institutions like IFC will enable JNPA to manage early-stage commercial risks, build operational experience, and bring international best-practices, prior to scale-up,” JNPA Chairperson Gaurav Dayal said.

“India’s ports are critical to its trade, and this investment is about making them future ready. By partnering with India’s largest and busiest container port we are going beyond an infrastructure upgrade to demonstrate that sustainable financing can work for the country’s maritime sector at scale,” said Manuel Reyes Retana, Division Director for South Asia at IFC.

(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by HDFC Sky editorial team and is auto-generated from PTI feed.)