The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is preparing a mandate that would require both Indian and foreign airlines operating international routes to report data covering at least 90 per cent of their annual carbon emissions linked to operations at all Indian international airports. The requirement is designed to create a level playing field and avoid economic distortion among carriers as India moves into the mandatory phase of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. That phase begins on 1 January 2027.
The reporting rule is the practical foundation for India’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel commitments. The government has set indicative blending targets of 1 per cent SAF in aviation turbine fuel for international flights in 2027, rising to 2 per cent in 2028 and 5 per cent in 2030. Achieving those percentages requires accurate measurement of baseline emissions and of the reductions delivered by SAF. Without reliable operator-level data covering the vast majority of flights touching Indian international airports, neither the blending mandate nor the associated carbon-offset calculations can function cleanly.
Foreign airlines will face the same reporting obligation as Indian carriers. That levels the competitive field but also expands the compliance burden across every major international operator that serves India. Carriers will need systems capable of tracking fuel uplift, flight activity and emissions attribution for every sector that involves an Indian international airport. Fuel suppliers and airports will have to supply verified data. Carbon-accounting platforms will need to process and verify the submissions to regulatory standards. The administrative load is significant, especially for airlines that currently treat Indian stations as one node among many in global networks.
The policy could raise costs in the short term. More rigorous monitoring, verification and SAF procurement will add expenses that airlines may seek to recover through fares or adjust through network decisions. At the same time the mandate creates a clearer demand signal for domestic SAF production. Oil marketing companies are already developing capacity, and a firm reporting-and-blending framework improves the investment case for additional plants and feedstock supply chains. Whether the net effect is higher ticket prices or accelerated capital formation in green aviation fuel will depend on how efficiently the compliance architecture is built and how quickly domestic SAF volumes scale.
This is the real precursor to India’s SAF era. The emissions-reporting requirement forces every stakeholder-airlines, fuel suppliers, airports and accounting systems-to prepare for a regime in which carbon is measured, attributed and eventually offset or reduced through cleaner fuel. The compliance fight is beginning now, well before the first mandatory blending percentages take effect. How that fight is resolved will shape both the cost of flying to and from India and the speed at which the country builds a credible sustainable-aviation-fuel industry.