India’s Aviation Climate Agenda 2025: Status and Strategy

Policy Update
Anshu Saroha

Introduction

The aviation sector in India is surging; it is determined, sometimes unpredictable, and a dawning responsibility. The specter of carbon emissions shadows every triumphant data point on air connectivity, every new airport or new aircraft order. Green aviation, long buzzed about in boardrooms and activist circles alike, has now moved beyond rhetoric into the daily grind of regulations, technology gambles, and policy patchworks. 

Even as the industry contributes less than 1% to the country’s gross emissions, its growth curve, sharp and insistent, shows few signs of subsiding. India is projected to become the third-largest aviation market globally by 2030. The question arises whether aviation should remain tied to kerosene, but this could increase its share of transport emissions very soon. This question is not hypothetical: India already ranks among the top emitters of aviation in developing economies, with domestic airlines fueling 1.5% of global aviation CO₂ output as of 2019

For years, Indian aviation operated in a kind of regulatory haze, largely insulated from the more pressing climate challenges through exemptions, delayed targets, or the conveniences of political expediency. National urgency only became apparent with the introduction of the Paris Climate Accord and growing air pollution-related public health issues. In 2019, the Ministry of Civil Aviation published a white paper on the National Green Aviation Policy, pushing bio-fuels like Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), reflecting a significant departure from business-as-usual.

Functioning

India’s green aviation push manifests through a framework of initiatives, each distinct, jagged-edged, and often experimental in scope. The most conspicuous are the policies guiding Sustainable Aviation Fuel from laboratory potential to market reality. In this matter, the government has, at last, moved from vague encouragement to explicit demand. It was proposed that by 2025, domestic airlines were to blend 1% SAF into jet fuel, climbing to 4-5% if allowed. While less ambitious than the European Union’s mandates, this signals intent and lays the groundwork for larger-scale adoption.

Production, at present, pivots around indigenous feedstocks: agricultural waste, residue from sugarcane, rice husk, and wheat straw. The Uttar Pradesh government has gone so far as to create policies supporting the establishment of SAF industrial units, linking the farm economy with energy transition. Giants such as Indian Oil Corporation and Praj Industries have tested and supplied biojet blends; the first commercial flight powered by India-made SAF took wing in 2023.

Technological innovation, meanwhile, doesn’t slouch. The E-HANSA electric trainer, crafted by National Aerospace Laboratories, offers hope of cleaner skies, at least for pilot training and short-haul applications. Further, collaborative ventures like Honeywell with NTPC Green, Boeing with Hindustan Petroleum, seek to accelerate SAF production and even position India as a future exporter.

Green airport design adds another shade to the spectrum. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi airport, for instance, now boasts green certifications, water recycling, and electrified ground operations. The country’s Greenfield Airport Policy prioritizes efficient, low-carbon designs for new developments. On the operational side, TaxiBots (hybrid towing vehicles) are rolling out, towing jets to scramble points with engines silent, sifting incremental fuel savings across the sector.

Performance

On paper, India’s progress radiates optimism. Pilot SAF flights attract fanfare. Policy messaging is forthright: greener airports, blended fuel targets, growing research in electric propulsion. Major airlines publicize net-zero announcements and experiment with biojet on select routes. The micro-level metrics, however, remain indifferent. SAF currently accounts for a sliver of the total aviation fuel consumed in the country. Economically,  SAF costs several times more than conventional ATF, supply chains lag, and commercial incentives are slim. Railroads, still, siphon away the true short-haul demand.

Fleet renewal, often championed, tends to follow international examples. Air India’s and IndiGo’s aggressive aircraft orders, while promising theoretically lower emissions per passenger, nonetheless risk swelling the absolute carbon inventory as overall operations scale up. Even operational improvements, like smarter air traffic management, careful scheduling, and optimized routing, can have fierce potential but can only mitigate, never erase, aviation’s core dependence on fossil carbon.

Impact

Yet, beyond metrics, the initiatives have left their imprint. The most vivid effect: narrative change. Green aviation is no longer cloaked in abstraction. As airlines cautiously purchase and fly on indigenous SAF blends, local farmers find new outlets for crop residue, partial relief from waste-burning, and a stake in the aviation supply chain. If scaled, this linkage could shrink both greenhouse gas emissions and air-pollution spikes that haunt north Indian winters.

GHG savings from SAF, when used, can reach up to an 80% reduction relative to fossil jet fuel, at least in an ideal supply chain. Green airport practices have chipped away at localized pollution by electrifying ground fleets, reducing the environmental load airports inflict on their surrounding cities. Further, India’s gradual compliance and participation in schemes like CORSIA and baseline amendments reflect a willingness to step into the obligations of a global regime, not merely local imperatives.

At the same time, market development for SAF, anchored in Make in India ambitions, nudges technological self-reliance and creates future export potential. Though nascent, this could mature into a globally recognized green manufacturing sector.

Global Comparison: India, China, and Brazil in Green Aviation

To contextualize India’s advances and ongoing challenges in green aviation, it is instructive to examine how other rapidly expanding aviation markets such as China and Brazil approach sustainability. Each country’s policy landscape is shaped by unique economic trajectories, feedstock realities, innovation priorities, and the scale of sectoral growth. Their comparative experiences help clarify both the strengths and the existing gaps within India’s trajectory. 

Source: Aviation A2Z, Imarc group

Its SAF blending requirements, while overshadowed by Brazil’s, vastly exceed China’s less-defined commitments. Both India and Brazil leverage rich agricultural residues, while China doubles down on technology innovation. Unique to India are its layered challenges like fractured implementation, price sensitivity, and the tension between hyper-growth and climate imperatives. The green transition, in short, will not be monolithic.

Emerging Issues

SAF production in India exists in a state of heightened aspiration but harsh reality. Feedstock collection, already logistically complex, faces fierce competition from energy, fodder, and fertilizer needs. Price, the perennial specter, lingers over every transaction. Without subsidies or stronger incentives, airlines are often struggling with wafer-thin margins and cannot reliably absorb SAF’s premium. Infrastructure for large-scale blending or distribution simply does not exist in most states.

Then comes the problem of demand. India’s aviation market is young, price-sensitive, and unsentimental. Policy pushes risk, clashing with consumer resistance if costs ripple down to ticket prices. Larger carriers may weather policy shifts, but smaller players face existential threats from green mandates without matched support. In the absence of global policy coordination, India’s emissions-reduction efforts risk being challenged by loopholes, transfer pricing, and international carbon adjustments.

Moreover, the relentless pace of fleet expansion threatens to offset efficiency gains. As passenger demand surges and hundreds of new aircraft take flight by 2035, emissions are set to rise in absolute terms regardless of efficiency leaps or moderate SAF blending. The temptation to conflate marginal improvements with systemic change oscillates over industry claims.

Way Forward

If India is to truly elevate its ambitions for sustainable aviation, the way forward demands practical creativity and institutional resolve. Policy-wise, mandates must step beyond low-percent blends and confront cost through tax incentives, targeted subsidies, or a national carbon market tied to aviation fuel. Green airport principles should be fundamental in building codes, and incentives for electric ground operations expanded. Coordination across ministries, civil aviation, energy, and agriculture requires institutional thickening to avoid siloed or contradictory mandates.

Further, public-private partnerships must be assured and protected from political volatility. The Indian government should carve out financing models that de-risk long-term SAF supply chains and stimulate indigenous technological innovation. Farmer engagement, often spoken but rarely integrated, should find a direct voice in SAF planning to secure continuous, sustainable feedstock.

Elsewhere, demand management must re-enter the conversation. Rather than racing solely for growth, India can rationalize short-haul air travel, investing in high-speed rail as an ecological complement, an idea still radical in aviation-centric development plans. Internationally, India must lobby for fairer global mechanisms with carbon border adjustments, CORSIA baselines that recognize development needs while rewarding environmental ambition.

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About the Contributor: Anshu Saroha is a Bachelor of Arts student at the University of British Columbia and a research intern at the Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI). 

Acknowledgement: The author would like to express sincere gratitude to the IMPRI team for their guidance throughout the writing of this article.

Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.

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