PIB TrackerGreening the skies: India preps for sustainable aviation fuel and CORSIA
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu chaired a high-level review of India's readiness for Sustainable Aviation Fuel and compliance with CORSIA — ICAO's global carbon-offsetting scheme — covering SAF production, blending targets, certification and carbon accounting.
What happened
- Ram Mohan Naidu chaired a high-level review of India's SAF and CORSIA preparedness.
- CORSIA is ICAO's global Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.
- It reviewed SAF production, certification and supply chains, plus the blending roadmap.
- The carbon-accounting framework for CORSIA reporting was examined.
- Participants spanned DGCA, AAI, BIS, BEE, Oil Marketing Companies, airlines and airport operators.
For Prelims
- SAF: Sustainable Aviation Fuel — a drop-in jet fuel from used cooking oil, agri residue and other feedstock, cutting lifecycle emissions.
- CORSIA: the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, under ICAO.
- ICAO: the International Civil Aviation Organization — the UN aviation body.
- Why SAF: aviation is hard to abate; SAF cuts emissions without new aircraft.
- Indian agencies: DGCA (regulator), AAI (airports), BIS (standards), BEE (energy efficiency), OMCs (fuel).
- Also relevant: SAF featured in the BRICS Transport Ministers' Declaration under India's 2026 chairship.
For UPSC: An economy-and-climate item. Use it for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors, ICAO/CORSIA and international climate governance in aviation, biofuel feedstock and the ethanol/SAF value chain, and India's fast-growing aviation market.
What it is NOT: This is a preparedness review, not a mandate — India's SAF blending targets and CORSIA compliance are being readied, not newly imposed at this meeting.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS3.9 · GS3.14 · Linkage L2
Anchor
Aviation's hardest problem — how a fast-growing airline market cuts carbon without grounding planes.
Substantiation (data)
A high-level review of SAF production, certification and supply chains, the blending roadmap and the CORSIA carbon-accounting framework, with OMC projects assessed.
Exemplification
A whole-of-government table — Civil Aviation, Petroleum, Environment, DGCA, BIS, BEE, airlines — for a cross-cutting fuel transition.
Problematisation
SAF costs multiples of jet fuel, feedstock supply is limited, and certification and offset integrity are contested.
Way-forward
Scale feedstock aggregation and domestic SAF capacity, set a credible blending trajectory, and build robust MRV for carbon accounting.
Position
India should shape CORSIA's equity terms while building genuine domestic SAF capacity rather than buying offsets.
Deploys into: Infrastructure/energy + climate (GS3.9, GS3.14) · SAF and biofuels, ICAO/CORSIA climate governance, and decarbonising hard-to-abate transport.
Ministry of Civil Aviation · 2026-07-29 · PRID 2291473 · PIB source ↗