India’s first green methanol plant to turn Kutch’s most invasive weed into marine fuel

A plant that has been ranked as one of the “top 100 invasive species in the world” and has for decades threatened biodiversity in Kutch’s Banni grasslands, may soon be harnessed for the production of green methanol and fuel for ocean-going ships.

The Mexican-origin shrub called Prosopis juliflora, known as gando baval in the region, vilayati keekar in north India and velikathan in Tamil, has crowded out native grasses over thousands of kilometres in Kutch. The plant was first introduced by the British in the 1920s to ‘green’ Delhi and by the Gujarat forest department in 1961 to halt the encroaching salt desert in the Rann. This weed is to become the feedstock for India’s first green methanol production plant, designed to fuel ocean-going ships.