Bharat Petroleum planning to setup three SAF plants across India

State-owned Bharat Petroleum is planning to invest INR14,000 crores ($1.6bn) to setup three sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sites across the country, according to reports by local media.

The state-owned refiner, with a combined refining capacity of 40m metric tonnes of crude oil, plans to develop new SAF refineries at Mumbai, Kochi, and Bina alongside the existing crude oil processing sites.

According to reports, the SAF plants will be aimed at meeting the India’s indicative SAF target of 1% SAF blending by 2027. The government is yet to notify the SAF target as discussions with stakeholders are still underway.

Earlier, Indian state-run power generation company NTPC announced that it is planning to invest $50bn over the next decade to develop a portfolio of clean energy projects.

“There are major plans for methanol, ethanol, green hydrogen for transportation and also SAF, for which it is already in talks with some airlines,” the local media quoted people familiar with the matter.

Reports claimed that the India’s largest power producer may look to set up annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes of SAF at Pudimadaka in the Northeastern state of Andhra Pradesh.