India and Brazil, in a joint statement, emphasised increased cooperation to promote biofuels, including sharing regulatory and policy experience to create frameworks encouraging investment in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production.
The joint statement was issued after the meeting of India’s Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, H S Puri, with Brazil’s Minister of Mines & Energy, Alexandre Silveira. Puri is on a three-day official visit to the South American country, which concludes on Saturday.
The sides noted that India and Brazil, as two leading biofuel producers, are well-positioned to collaborate on production and use of SAF by leveraging their existing ethanol and biodiesel production infrastructure, growing aviation market and vast feedstock potential, including their agricultural resources.
In the context of SAF, the sides noted that currently SAF remains the major mature and viable pathway to decarbonise the aviation sector. At the same time, SAF only accounts for 0.3 per cent of the current fuel use for aviation.
The sides recognised the role that India-Brazil partnership in SAF can play in deployment and development of the sector by leveraging and catalysing regional value chains to ramp up SAF production, trading, distribution and certification, which inter-alia will support enhancement of availability, affordability and reliability of the biofuel.
Both countries noted that the modes for such cooperation could include leveraging ethanol production from all sources.
“Promote technology exchange, joint research, and development initiatives, in order to optimise SAF production processes as well as share regulatory and policy experience, with a view to create frameworks that encourage investment in SAF production,” the joint statement said.
Cooperation in R&D to enhance the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of production pathways and collaboration in multilateral forums, such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), to promote the development of SAF.
India and Brazil also discussed collaboration in deep and ultradeep explorations in the Indian offshore Acreages. The two sides also initiated a discussion on cooperation in the area of critical minerals and their value chains.
In the oil and gas sector, the sides recognised the trust reposed by Indian companies, which has resulted in Brazil being one of the largest destinations for investments by Indian oil and gas companies in the world.
The sides also reaffirmed their commitment to identifying new possible mechanisms for increasing the presence of Indian companies in the country, including through new investment opportunities in producing assets. The sides, while recognising the complementarities in the trade sector, committed to identifying ways of enhancing the trade between the two countries, including through innovative mechanisms.
