Indian Oil to upgrade Panipat site to produce SAF

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation is planning to upgrade its Panipat refinery to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to media reports.

The company plans to shut down its 300,000 barrels per day desulphuriser unit with the overhaul planned for later this year or start of next.

India is planning to introduce a 1% SAF mandate by 2027 with aim to doubling to 2% by 2028.

The company plans to use HEFA technology to produce SAF via used cooking oil with the target to produce 30,000 metric tons of SAF per annum. IOC said it is also planning to upgrade other production sites across the country to produce SAF.

Indian Oil is already in the progress of building a 10,000 tons-per-year green hydrogen facility at the Panipat refinery. The contract to build the Hydrogen unit was awarded to Larsen and Toubro. The engineering firm will build and operate the plant and sell green hydrogen to Indian Oil at 397 Indian rupees ($4.64) per kilogram.

India has set a target for refiners to meet half of their hydrogen demand through green hydrogen by 2030.