Oil Minister Sees Promise in Sugarcane, SAF, and a Booming Airline Market

Indian oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the country was looking to go ahead with a 1% SAF minimum for all domestic jet travel by 2025.

Currently, the European Commission has eyed a similar goal, setting their target at double that number by the same date. Under each plan, the groups would look to start off the industry by replacing 1-2% of their total jet fuel stocks with sustainable fuels. If all goes well, then the nascent industry could, Singh said, ramp percentages up to 4-5% once the logistics begin to come into their own.

Indian Oil Corp has already announced its intent to create an SAF plant by 2026, which will produce more than 85,000 tonnes of fuel per year. That will fall somewhat short of the required 1% goal, however, which will need about 109,000 tonnes of SAF. An Indian panel had recommended 1% SAF as an attainable goal, though it won't be without growing pains. Singh emphasized the Modhi cabinet's aim to make the country self-reliant (in energy terms, at least) by 2047. 

Rumor has it that the government was mulling over a directive mandating airlines to use blended SAF by 2025 in a bid to kick-start demand and hurry production along. The country lags a bit in development, only seeing its first domestic (though commercial!) flight - when an Air Asia plane flew from Pune to Delhi. On the upside, Singh noted that the country was not without feedstock, given its large array of sugarcane molasses and arable land to grow it. He believes that the development of SAF will be able to employ more than half a million farmers in some of the most rural, impoverished regions of India, to the point it could one day become an "international hub for sustainable fuel".

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