In early December 2025, state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) obtained the country’s first certification to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at its Panipat refinery. IOC last August announced that it would annually produce 35,000 tonnes of SAF, a group of liquid hydrocarbon fuels that can substitute conventional fuel in aviation. SAF may contribute 65 per cent of the emissions reduction needed by aviation to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, as per the International Air Transport Association.
IOC’s certification is one of the first steps towards India’s ambitious targets to reduce aviation emissions. In 2023, India committed for 1 per cent SAF blending in international flights by 2027, followed by 5 per cent by 2030 and 15 per cent for domestic flights by 2040.
To reach these targets, India needs a robust SAF production strategy. Unlike conventional jet fuel, which is largely de-rived from petroleum-based sources and hence has a high environmental burden, SAF relies on a range of feedstocks, particularly “wastes” from different sectors (see “Routes to sustainability”, p12). All feed-stocks require different production pathways, and are processed either in dedicated biorefineries or through co-processing in existing refineries along with crude.
For its Panipat refinery, IOC is focused on tapping into the most viable feedstock: used cooking oil (UCO), a company executive who does not wish to be named tells Down To Earth (DTE), adding that stable UCO supply, among other things, is crucial. In the wider context too, India’s SAF strategy is centred on co-processing UCO in existing refineries that require minimal hardware modifications, an Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) official tells DTE on condition of anonymity. This brings forth the question: does India have enough UCO for SAF production?
This article is part of a detailed analysis published in the February 1-15, 2026 print edition of Down To Earth