India: Jet Fuel Made from Used Cooking Oil

In a major milestone in the country’s green aviation push, Indian Oil’s Panipat refinery has been certified to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by converting used cooking oil into jet-grade fuel. This alchemy aligns with global carbon reduction goals.

Union Civil Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the production is set to begin soon as per ICAO’s CORSIA standards with an annual capacity of 3 crore litres. Swiss-based Cotecna Inspection Group, through its Indian arm Cotecna Inspection India Pvt Ltd, issued the certification after a coordinated effort between the petroleum and aviation ministries and DGCA.

Panipat refinery is the first Indian refinery certified as a co-processing plant for SAF, an official said, adding that the focus now shifts to ramping up production to ensure a meaningful SAF presence in coming years and meet emissions targets. Ram Mohan Naidu taking to X said: “In the future, more such facilities would be established in the country, carving out the path to meet the target of 1% SAF blending in all international flights by 2027 and cut the country’s aviation carbon footprint.”

The Panipat unit complies with CORSIA — carbon offsetting & reduction scheme for international aviation — a key initiative under UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation to curb aviation-related emissions.

Sustainable aviation fuel is not new to India though there has been little progress in this direction. In August 2018, SpiceJet flew a Bombardier from Dehradun to Delhi on a 75:25 mix of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and jatropha-based biofuel, cooked by the Indian Institute of Petroleum. Later in 2022, IndiGo flew with a 10% SAF blend on a ferry flight from Toulouse to Delhi.