Railway
India's first biofuel-powered flight landed at New Delhi's IGI Airport from Dehradun in:
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Answer: Option D — 2018
Detailed Solution
On 27 August 2018, SpiceJet operated India's first flight partly powered by biofuel. The Bombardier Q400 aircraft flew from Dehradun (Uttarakhand) to New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, a flight of about 25 minutes, with around 20 people on board, including officials of the aviation regulator and SpiceJet.
About the flight:
The aircraft used a blend of 75% normal aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and 25% biojet fuel in one of its two engines.
The biojet fuel was made from the oil of jatropha seeds (Jatropha curcas), a non-edible plant that can grow on wasteland. About 500 farmers in Chhattisgarh supplied the seeds.
It was developed by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP), Dehradun, using its own technology.
With this flight, India joined a small group of countries, such as the USA, Australia and Canada, that had tested biofuel flights.
Benefits of biojet fuel:
- Lower emissions of carbon dioxide and sulphur compounds compared to normal jet fuel.
- Less dependence on imported crude oil.
- Additional income for farmers who grow oilseed crops on unused land.
Later developments:
In January 2019, the Indian Air Force flew an An-32 transport aircraft on a 10% biojet fuel blend, and in 2019 it flew one from Leh airport.
India's National Policy on Biofuels was adopted in 2018 and amended in 2022, bringing forward the target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol to 2025-26 (from 2030). This "E20" target was achieved in 2025.
India has set indicative targets for blending Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in jet fuel for international flights: 1% from 2027 and 2% from 2028.
World Biofuel Day is observed on 10 August, the birthday of Sir Rudolf Diesel, who ran an engine on peanut oil.
Why not the other options?
- ✗2015, 2020 and 2012 are not the year of India's first biofuel flight.
Quick tip
Remember: India's first biofuel flight = SpiceJet, Dehradun-Delhi, 27 August 2018 (25% jatropha biojet fuel from CSIR-IIP Dehradun); World Biofuel Day = 10 August.
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This question tests your understanding of Industries & Transport in India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's major industries (iron and steel, textiles, cement, sugar, automobiles and information technology) and their locations, along with the transport network: railways, roads and national highways, ports, airports and waterways. Common questions ask where a steel plant is located and which country helped build it (Bhilai with the Soviet Union, Rourkela with Germany and Durgapur with Britain), which city is called the 'Manchester of India', and facts about major ports, railway zones and national highways. Practise the industries and transport questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.