Building India's agri-residue feedstock supply chain to make CBG blending and SAF mandates commercially deliverable

Problem Overview: Underutilized biofuel refineries due to fragmented, unstructured feedstock supply

India produces an estimated 230 million tonnes of surplus agricultural residue annually, including rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, and wheat straw ^[1]. At the same time, India’s CBG and emerging SAF blending mandates are expected to significantly increase demand for biomass-derived fuels over the next decade.

The primary challenge for these fuels is not the feedstock availability; it lies in the supply chain setup and operational issues. While early SAF demand may be met through Used Cooking Oil (HEFA pathway), scaling will increasingly require technologies such as Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ). Large infrastructure investments, like Indian Oil's upcoming ATJ plant in Panipat could face feedstock reliability and aggregation challenges without robust biomass supply systems. Similarly, operational CBG plants face poor unit economics and low methane yields due to inconsistent feedstock quality, moisture content, and biomass composition. Since transportation and logistics can account for 20-30% of operating expenses, many bio-energy pathways may require decentralized aggregation systems to remain economically viable. The current ecosystem lacks organized aggregation models and affordable technology to ensure a reliable, year-round supply of standardized feedstock.

Core Bottlenecks: Lack of aggregation, preprocessing, & quality-standardization infra

Existing Approaches and Technology Readiness

Where is the white-space for innovation?

The mandates are binding, but the supply chain lacks a system that turns field-level burning into fuel ready for refineries. There is a need for a complete procurement model that uses seasonal complementarity, like rice straw in November, sugarcane in January, and wheat in May. This model should provide refineries with a year-round supply contract.