Parliament Question: Roadmap for expansion of sustainable aviation fuel in aviation sector

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 3386 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 23rd March 2026 ROADMAP FOR EXPANSION OF SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL IN AVIATION SECTOR 3386. SMT JEBI MATHER HISHAM Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state:- (a) whether specific fiscal instruments, viability gap funding or green financing models are proposed to attract private and foreign investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) manufacturing, the details thereof; (b) whether any inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms have been established to align SAF expansion with national energy security and export strategies; (c) whether dedicated R&D missions or innovation clusters have been proposed to advance next-generation SAF technologies; (d) whether regional biomass aggregation and supply-chain infrastructure plans have been envisaged for sustained SAF scalability, the details thereof; and (e) whether a long-term operational roadmap has been prepared to expand SAF blending from international to domestic aviation sectors, the details thereof? ANSWER Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Murlidhar Mohol) (a) to (e): The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has adopted a market based measure i.e. Carbon Offsetting Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) to reduce carbon emissions from international aviation. India, being a Member State of the ICAO, is under obligation to comply with the mandatory phase of CORSIA from 2027. CORSIA allows aircraft operators to reduce their offsetting requirements through the use of CORSIA eligible fuels, which include CORSIA sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and CORSIA lower carbon aviation fuels (LCAF) The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) has informed that Public Sector Oil companies are engaged in setting up pilot/commercial scale facilities to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) including standalone as well as co-processing plants. The PM JI-VAN Yojana, launched in 2019 and amended in 2024, allows grant of financial assistance to set up commercial and demonstrative advanced biofuel plants including SAF plants.Meetings and workshops are being conducted in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders including the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, to facilitate the development of a robust SAF ecosystem in the country. The Government has approved indicative blending targets of 1% by 2027, 2% by 2028, and 5% by 2030 for SAF in ATF, initially for international flights. ******