New Delhi: The government will soon announce a policy on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) aimed at cutting crude oil imports, improving farmers’ incomes and creating over a million green jobs, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said.
Naidu said the transition to SAF will demand innovation, significant investments and international cooperation.
“From feedstock to fuel, from farmers to flyers, and from frying to flying – who would have imagined that those frying samosas could also participate in this global aviation movement,” union minister Naidu remarked, highlighting the role of everyday resources like used cooking oil in producing SAF.
According to the minister, India aims to achieve 1 per cent SAF blending in jet fuel by 2027, 2 per cent by 2028 and 5 per cent by 2030. SAF, a sustainable drop-in substitute for conventional Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), is considered vital to reducing carbon emissions from the aviation sector.
Naidu urged private players to collaborate with oil companies in SAF production, noting that global demand for SAF is projected to reach 183 million tonnes by 2040. He also underlined India’s strong potential, with more than 750 million tonnes of available biomass and around 213 million tonnes of surplus agricultural residue that can serve as feedstock.
The upcoming SAF policy, Naidu said, could help raise farmers’ incomes by 10–15 per cent, cut crude oil import bills by USD 5–7 billion annually, and create over one million green jobs across the SAF value chain.
He added that while global SAF production remains limited, India can emerge as a cost-competitive hub, aligning growth with sustainability in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, where domestic airlines have already ordered over 1,700 aircraft.