Guwahati, Sept 26: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a 150-tonnes-per-day green e-methanol plant at Kandla Port in Gujarat. Addressing the gathering, Sarma said Assam’s experience with methanol production goes back nearly five decades and that the state would contribute to the success of the project.

“When Sarbananda Sonowal requested that the 150-TPD methanol plant at Kandla Port and Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited must contribute towards it, we instantly said yes. We will be associated with the project and contribute towards its success,” Sarma said.

Sarma said the Kandla project would eventually help generate green fuel for ships. “For the country, this is a great achievement.

The project that we have started today will be bigger in the coming days and generate green fuel for our ships. I believe the project will be complete in three years,” he said.

Referring to India’s net-zero target, Sarma said the country’s transition towards green energy had gathered momentum following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment at the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021 to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. “When in 2021, at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, the Prime Minister said that by 2070 India will achieve net zero emission, that means we won’t use fossil fuel and our daily fuel needs will come from natural sources.

It began a green fuel movement in the country,” Sarma said. He said the Kandla project would also advance the Centre’s push for the use of green fuel in the maritime sector.

“The Prime Minister also had an aim of usage of green fuel in our ships. And today, that vision is coming to reality in Kandla Port as the foundation stone of a 150-tonnes-per-day green e-methanol plant has been laid,” he said.

Addressing how Assam would contribute to a project in Gujarat, Sarma pointed to the state’s long association with the energy sector. “Assam has been contributing towards the country in the energy sector.

You may know, Assam was the first state where petrol was discovered in 1867. Even the first oil refinery was established in the state in 1901, and today Assam contributes significantly to the country’s oil and natural gas needs,” he said.

The project follows a memorandum of understanding signed between APL and the Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) in January 2026 for setting up the plant at Kandla. Under the agreement, DPA will provide land and port-based infrastructure at Kandla, while APL will establish the green methanol production facility.