{"id":59798,"date":"2025-08-18T11:03:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T05:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=59798"},"modified":"2025-08-18T11:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T05:34:02","slug":"indias-first-sustainable-aviation-fuel-plant-to-begin-production-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/indias-first-sustainable-aviation-fuel-plant-to-begin-production-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s First Sustainable Aviation Fuel Plant to Begin Production in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Sustainable Aviation Fuel India Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), India\u2019s largest refiner and fuel retailer, is set to begin <\/span><b>commercial production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at its Panipat refinery by <\/span><b>December 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The facility recently received international certification to manufacture biofuel from used cooking oil (UCO).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By year-end, IOC will achieve a production capacity of <\/span><b>35,000 tonnes of SAF annually<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with raw material sourced from large hotel chains, restaurants, and food companies, which typically discard cooking oil after one-time use.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This development marks a significant step in India\u2019s <\/span><b>green aviation push<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, contributing to cleaner energy transition and reducing dependence on conventional jet fuel.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>About Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SAF is a bio-based alternative to conventional jet fuel, produced from renewable feedstocks such as used cooking oil, agricultural residues, forestry waste, and non-edible crops.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SAF is a \u201cdrop-in fuel,\u201d meaning it can be blended with existing jet fuel and used in current aircraft engines without modification.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">International aviation bodies certify blending limits (usually up to 50%) to ensure safety and performance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Benefits of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Engine and infrastructure compatibility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; SAF blended with conventional Jet A can be used in existing aircraft and infrastructure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Fewer emissions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Compared with conventional jet fuel, 100% SAF has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 94% depending on feedstock and technology pathway.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>More flexibility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; SAF is a replacement for conventional jet fuel, allowing for multiple products from various feedstocks and production technologies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Energy Security<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 It reduces dependence on imported crude oil.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Economic Opportunities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 It Creates new markets for farmers (through non-edible crops and residues) and waste collectors (used cooking oil, biomass).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Exports<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: With Europe already enforcing SAF blending mandates, <\/span><b>European airlines<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are seen as the first major buyers of IOC\u2019s SAF when they land in India. IOC also plans to tap into <\/span><b>global export markets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as demand rises.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>IOC\u2019s First Commercial SAF Plant<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country\u2019s largest refiner, will begin <\/span><b>commercial production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at its Panipat refinery by <\/span><b>December 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The plant is certified under <\/span><b>ISCC CORSIA standards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IOC is the first Indian company to receive ISCC CORSIA certification, a requirement under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From 2027, airlines worldwide must offset emissions beyond 2020 levels, and using SAF blends will be a key compliance pathway.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will produce <\/span><b>35,000 tonnes of SAF annually<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> using <\/span><b>used cooking oil (UCO)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UCO refers to edible oils and fats that have been used for frying, cooking, or food preparation in both commercial and household settings.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is essentially leftover oil from cooking processes.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While UCO can be a sustainable feedstock for biodiesel and other products, its improper disposal can lead to environmental and health issues.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Meeting India\u2019s SAF Targets<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The initial production capacity will be sufficient to meet India\u2019s 1% SAF blending target for international flights by 2027.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) has set indicative <\/span><b>targets of 1% blending in 2027 and 2% in 2028<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SAF blending for domestic flights is expected to follow, but only after international targets are in place.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Challenges Ahead<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Collection bottlenecks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: While UCO collection from big hotel chains is easy, creating systems to collect oil from small eateries and households remains difficult.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>High cost<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: SAF is currently about three times more expensive than conventional jet fuel, raising concerns for airlines about higher operating costs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Feedstock Availability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Large-scale production requires a steady supply of sustainable feedstocks (used cooking oil, residues, waste).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Policy roadmap<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Although the government had earlier considered early SAF mandates, cost concerns have pushed implementation to 2027 onwards.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Future Pathways<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While IOC has started with the used cooking oil route, it is also working on <\/span><b>alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technology,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which uses ethanol as feedstock.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other Indian companies are exploring similar SAF technologies, but all pathways require international certification before commercial rollout.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/used-cooking-oil-to-fuel-for-planes-indias-first-sustainable-aviation-fuel-plant-to-start-production-by-year-end-10194705\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IE<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/companies\/news\/used-cooking-oil-to-produce-sustainable-aviation-fuel-indian-oil-chairman-125081700135_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/afdc.energy.gov\/fuels\/sustainable-aviation-fuel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AFDC<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indian Oil to start producing 35,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel annually from used cooking oil at Panipat refinery by year-end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":59831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,2231,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-59798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-sustainable-aviation-fuel-india","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}