India to release national policy on SAF soon: Minister Naidu

The government will soon release a national policy on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said on Thursday, as he emphasised on India’s unique position as an agriculture powerhouse to cater to the rising global demand for the fuel.

SAF refers to aviation fuel derived from non-fossil sources. 

The global aviation safety watchdog International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) aims to reduce CO2 emissions in international aviation by 5% by 2030, and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. India too has set targets to blend SAF into its international flights, starting with a 1% blend by 2027, increasing to 2% by 2028, and reaching 5% by 2030 under ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) programme.

Addressing a FICCI event, the Minister said that today the global requirement of SAF stood at 2 million tonne which by 2040 would rise to 183 million tonne. “As an agricultural powerhouse with over 750 million tonne of available biomass, India has the capacity to become the global leader in SAF production”.

India has a surplus of 213 million tonne of agricultural residue along with adequate manufacturing capacity, the Minister stated. To achieve 1% blending of SAF by 2027, India will require 30 million litre, while the 2% target for 2028 translates to 62 million litre. Domestic oil manufacturing companies collectively have an annual production capacity of 70 million litre. 

“We are well on course to meet the domestic demand and even emerge as a global production player in SAF”.

In order to encourage innovation in this field, European aerospace major Airbus and Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) signed a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) to launch a research and development programme focused on converting municipal solid waste into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). ENDS