India will likely shift to ethanol-blended aviation fuel by mid-2027 and ramp it up in phases, with the addition of over two dozen distilleries on the back of federal incentives for biofuels, an official aware of the details said on Sunday.
The world’s third-largest aviation market is looking to achieve 1% ethanol blending for jet fuel by 2027, 2% by 2028 and 5% by 2030, Union Minister of State (MoS) for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol had told Parliament earlier this month.
India has already conducted test flights with sustainable fuel. Air Vistara, now merged with Air India, operated a transatlantic test flight of a Boeing 787 from the US to India using 28% blended fuel in March 2023. Air Asia operated the first commercial domestic flight (Pune to Delhi) with 0.75% blended fuel the same year.
A much-awaited policy for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will likely be released for stakeholder consultations next month, the official cited above said on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, a top industry executive said installed production capacity of ethanol exceeds demand by 4.22 billion litres currently, which is enough to meet the initial target for SAF.
