India Commences Commercial Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production

One announcement that signifies a massive step towards decarbonising the Indian aviation industry is that full-fledged production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) will commence in India starting December 2025.

Key Developments:

• India’s IOC is the first airline in India to receive ISCC certification and in April gained ISCC CORSIA certification to produce SAF using used cooking oil at its Panipat refinery.
• The unit is expected to generate 35,000 tonnes of SAF a year, in line with India’s goal of blending 1% of SAF in international flights by 2027.

Sourcing and Challenges:

• Main feedstock is spent cooking oil from hotels and restaurants and also from big food factories.
• The effective recovery of waste oil from small business and homes, remains a challenge.

Regulatory Context:

• India has proposed 1% blending target for international flights in 2027 and 2% in 2028. Domestic mandates are expected post-2027.
• These targets are consistent with the global CORSIA scheme, which requires airlines to offset emissions growth post-2027.

Barriers and Future:

• Chief among these is cost, since SAF is three times more expensive than jet fuel.
• IOC is examining other ways to make, such as with ethanol. With the scale and technological advance, the high cost is supposed to be lowered.
• With a robust international demand, specifically from European airlines with blending requirements, IOC is currently exploring export markets for their SAF.