The International Finance Corporation's board signed off on a US$70 million loan to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) on 5 August 2026, funding shore power at India's largest state-owned container port. The deal, still listed as pending signature in IFC's project disclosure, will electrify berths across JNPA's five container terminals over the next two to three years.

The money pays for the hardware:

• 33kV substations
• cable systems
• e-houses
• frequency converters
• shore connection points

Vessels at berth will plug into grid electricity instead of burning auxiliary diesel. IFC said the project cuts greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants — sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter — by killing auxiliary engine idling alongside.

What does the rollout change for carriers and terminals?

For carriers calling JNPA, the practical question is vessel-side compatibility. Cold-ironing takes the auxiliary load off the engine room and shifts it to shore. Older tonnage without shore-power kit still burns auxiliary fuel at berth. Lines that call the Indian west coast regularly have a stronger retrofit case now that the port is building the receiving infrastructure.

For terminal operators, the build is contained. JNPA confirms the project sits entirely inside the existing port footprint. No land acquisition. That removes a long-running obstacle for Indian port infrastructure, where environmental clearance on new land routinely stretches project timelines by years.

Why two phases?

JNPA runs five container terminals through public-private partnership concessions and holds total container capacity of approximately 10.4 million TEUs. Phase one concentrates on one container terminal. Phase two extends the cable and converter kit to the remaining berths. The liquid cargo terminal sits outside the scope.

The phased approach matches how ports typically deploy large capex without disrupting cargo flow. JNPA has already done the prep work: the Detailed Project Report is complete, and a project monitoring consultancy sits on the contract.

What's the timeline?

Two to three years for capital deployment. January 2028 for full operational rollout across container berths. The port already supplies shore power to port craft, with the existing facility expanded in August 2021 to accommodate additional vessels. The new build scales that capability to ocean-going ships.

What's the deal's commercial shape?

Up to US$70 million, IFC's standard envelope for emerging-market port decarbonisation. The deal removes the emissions-intensity-at-berth objection that recurs when shippers and carriers benchmark Indian port calls against European peers. With cold-ironing in place by 2028, JNPA matches the shore-power standard at Rotterdam, Hamburg and Valencia.

Where does this go next?

Watch the IFC project disclosure. Once the agreement moves from pending to signed, procurement notices for the 33kV substations and frequency converters should hit Indian tender portals. The shape of the next quarter is set: who supplies the substations, how cable routes thread into existing berth layouts, and whether the five terminal concessionaires co-invest in vessel-side kit for their regular liner customers.