India, Sustainability and SAF

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is slowly emerging as a brand ambassador for the use of sustainable aviation fuel in aviation as he expressed his wish of looking forward to the day when aircraft will be fuelled by bio-ATF (Aviation Turbine fuel) made from Vidarbha’s farmers. Initially his associated were sceptical about his claim that aircraft could run on bio aviation fuel, but today Gadkari is proud of his dream becoming a reality. 

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) operates a plant in Nagpur with an annual capacity of 88,000 tonnes for producing sustainable aviation fuel, the plant is about to expand its ethanol production to 600,000 liters. 

Bio aviation fuel will be cheaper than petroleum-based ATF. “I have taken on the challenge of providing affordable bio-ATF and have worked closely with the IOC chairman to make it happen,” Gadkari said. 

A few days back Nitin Gadkari openly announced in Rajya Sabha that Indian aviation industry will adopt 20% of bio-aviation fuel in the next five years, triggering a new topic for debate. 

The minister further went on to add that the fuel will be extracted from parali (Stubble) and the farmer will get the rate of INR 2500 per ton for it.  True, India has abundant source of raw material for SAF production but unfortunately, experts claims that India lacks the technology and skilled manpower to manufacture SAF from the existing feedstock. 

The buzz around sustainability, carbon emissions and environmental protection is rising by the day in almost every sector. Especially the corporate sector is expected to up their game and contribute towards sustainability in saving our planet for future generations. A large onus of this sustainability index rests on the shoulders of aviation sector with airlines, airports, MROs and almost every aspect of Aviation sector vying for a large section of the pie to contribute towards clean and green aviation. 

Looking at current situation India is far off from adopting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a part of its daily commercial operations. Last year in April 2023, Vistara became the first Indian airline to use 17% SAF and 83% conventional jet fuel blend on a B787-9 widebody aircraft on the Delhi-Mumbai route. The airline claimed that this flight cut its Co2 emission by 4,500kgs. In a couple of months, in May 2024, AirAsia India successfully operated SAF-blend on its commercial flight. Post these two flights, there has been silence on this front. 

As per the petroleum ministry’s claims, India’s National Biofuels Coordination Committee has set a target to blend 1% of sustainable aviation fuel with jet fuel in 2027 and 2% in 2028. These will apply to international flights initially.

This plan is in alignment with Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) second phase. 

CORSIA, established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency, is the first global measure to reduce emissions from international flights. In 2016, the ICAO agreed to establish CORSIA framework, to set a carbon-neutral growth target from 2019.

CORSIA’s adoption includes three phases – Pilot phase from 2021 to 2023, first phase from 2024-2026 and second phase from 2027- 2035. India has opted out of phase I and pilot phase due to operational challenges.