Capital grants, other Fin -assistance can help lower the initial SAF production costs in India: Study

New -Delhi, September 29 (PTI), financial aid, including capital grants and loan guarantees, can help reduce the initial cost of building facilities for the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel in India, which also has a significant amount of nutrients to produce the fuel, according to a study. The study was drawn up under the ICAO ACT-Saf assistance project for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) that is eligible under the carbon description and reduction scheme for international aviation (Corsia). ICAO ACT SAF refers to the international management of civil aviation organizations, capacity building and training for sustainable aviation fuels. According to a low estimate, the study said that India can produce more than 14 million tonnes of SAF from different nutrients annually, with sugarcane bagases, rice straw and municipal fixed waste forming most of the biogenous nutrients. The production quantum can be more than 33 million tonnes a year at the higher point. “The potential low estimate of SAF volumes that can be produced in India is more than sufficient to produce up to 70 percent SAF mixtures in all jet fuel used in India (based on jet fuel forecasts up to 2050), with additional SAF available for export,” the study said. “India can produce more than enough SAF to deliver the demand with high blending targets and also export SAF to other regions … India’s favorable geographical location positions for export to Southeast Asia and Europe,” the study states, adding that the country has significant volumes of sustainable feeds to produce fuel. The production of SAF through the alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) process provides the greatest opportunity for India as a route to SAF production, he added. SAF will be a key element in the unbundling of the country’s rapidly growing civil -air space. While the lack of supportive and adequate policy in India invests in SAF facilities that are uneconomical, the study said that financial aid in the form of capital grants and loan guarantees can be used to reduce the initial cost of building a first-class facility for SAF production, and such an approach will also create a favorable investment environment. “A combination (basket) of policy with different mechanisms that target different challenges in the SAF supply chain can spread the higher cost of SAF mixing and use.” Long -term mandates who create a structural demand, combined with long -term, fixed policy frameworks (not just a memorandum of understanding), and establishing a stable policy framework that provides a long -term safety, will create the investment and consumption of SAF consumption, and it does not have an investment. Having mandates for SAF is not favored, including by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which believes that mandates alone are not sufficient and incentives are also needed.