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

A plant ranked as one of the “top 100 invasive species in the world” and which has been threatening biodiversity in Kutch’s Banni grasslands for decades could soon be used to produce green methanol and fuel for ocean liners.

shrub of Mexican origin prosopis juliflora, known as gando baval in the region, vilayati keekar in northern India and velikathan In Tamil, it destroyed native grasses for thousands of kilometers in Kutch. The plant was first introduced to ‘green’ Delhi by the British in the 1920s and by the Gujarat forest department in 1961 to stem the salt desert in the Rann. The herb will be the feedstock for India’s first green methanol production plant designed to fuel ocean-going ships.