Government Orders IndiGo to Curtail Flight Schedule by 10%, Double of What the Regulator DGCA had Ordered
The government on 9th March 2025, ordered IndiGo to reduce its schedule by at least 10 per cent, doubling the curtailment from 5 per c
India will shift to ethanol-blended aviation fuel by mid-2027, gradually ramping it up in phases, with the addition of over two dozen distilleries supported by federal biofuel incentives.
The nation, which has the world’s third-largest aviation market, is introducing 1% ethanol blending in jet fuel by 2027, raising it to 2% in 2028 and further to 5% by 2030. Murlidhar Mohol, Union Minister of State, had shared these targets in Parliament.
India has already carried out trial flights using cleaner aviation fuel. In 2023 March, Air Vistara, which has since merged with Air India, operated a long-haul Boeing 787 flight from the USA to India using blended fuel. In the same year, Air Asia flew the nation’s first commercial domestic flight between Pune and Delhi with a fuel blend.
As stated in the news report, a long-pending policy on sustainable aviation fuel will be released for public consultation next month, the official said, requesting anonymity.
The International Civil Aviation Organization has accepted the Carbon Offsetting & Reduction Scheme for International Aviation as a global market-based measure to decrease emissions from international aviation that need offsetting above a baseline value.
Airlines can also use SAF or offset their production by purchasing carbon credits from ICAO-approved Emissions Unit Programmes. SAF offers a direct pathway to emission reduction by lowering the lifecycle carbon footprint of aviation fuel. When airlines adopt CORSIA-eligible SAF certified against ICAO’s sustainability standards and verified through Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification, they can claim these reductions as alternatives for carbon credits, thus reducing their offsetting obligations under the scheme.
The Centre is supporting biofuel projects through the Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana, which offers monetary assistance for setting up plants, including those producing aviation fuel.
Under the scheme, the government offers interest support for five years and a one-year repayment break for loans taken out to set up new ethanol distilleries. The support covers interest up to 6% per year or half of the bank’s lending rate, whichever is lower.
Several companies/PSUs, namely Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Limited, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, CSIR Indian Institute of Petroleum, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Institute of Petroleum, etc., are presently working on SAF production/research.
Source: Hindustan Times
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