India could transform its surplus agricultural waste and low-cost green hydrogen into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through a Power-and-Biomass-to-Liquids (PBtL) industry, according to a report co-authored by the India Energy and Climate Centre, the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, and Energy Innovation Policy and Technology, released on 10 July. The findings present a commercially viable pathway that could simultaneously reduce India's dependence on imported crude oil, curb crop-burning pollution, and decarbonise its aviation sector.

How the PBtL Process Works

The PBtL pathway gasifies surplus crop residue — primarily rice and wheat straw — and combines the resulting synthesis gas with green hydrogen to produce liquid jet fuel via the Fischer-Tropsch process. The report describes PBtL as ready for commercial demonstration and argues it outcompetes other SAF technologies on cost, carbon intensity, and resource efficiency.

Crucially, the process creates value from agricultural residue that is currently burned in fields, a practice that contributes significantly to seasonal air pollution across northern India. The report notes that scaling PBtL could avoid premature deaths linked to local air pollution — a co-benefit that extends well beyond the aviation sector.

Cost Advantage and Market Potential

According to the report, India's PBtL route can produce SAF at costs up to roughly 40 per cent below global SAF benchmarks, driven by record-low green hydrogen prices and low agricultural residue costs. The report further projects that PBtL SAF production costs could fall below fossil jet fuel prices in the 2030s or earlier, depending on market conditions and policy developments.

The findings also suggest that PBtL SAF could feasibly satisfy all of India's 2050 aviation demand and carries less monetary risk exposure than fossil jet fuel. Until Indian PBtL SAF can compete directly with conventional jet fuel, the report argues it can economically serve rising international SAF demand while hedging against crude oil price spikes.

Where the Opportunity Is Sharpest

A spatially detailed, district-level assessment in the report identifies areas surrounding the Delhi, Pune, and Mumbai airports as best suited for near-term PBtL industry growth, given the alignment of surplus agricultural residue availability and low green hydrogen costs in those corridors. This geographic specificity adds credibility to the commercial case and gives policymakers a clear starting point for pilot investments.

The Policy Challenge Ahead

The report acknowledges that early investment and smart policy will be essential to overcome first-of-a-kind deployment barriers and guard against unintended consequences. It concludes that if India can navigate these challenges, it can unlock a virtuous cycle of scale and cost reduction that advances energy self-reliance, public health, and global climate leadership.

This comes amid India's broader push to reduce its aviation sector's greenhouse gas footprint, even as passenger air travel demand continues to grow rapidly. With the country already making strides in green hydrogen capacity, the report's authors argue the conditions for a domestic SAF industry are more favourable now than at any previous point.