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India’s indicative SAF blending requirements are written for international flightsi. That design choice determines more about a producer’s certification decision than any question of feedstock or conversion route, because a fuel destined for an international route is a fuel destined for a buyer carrying obligations under a framework, and often more than one.
The first question for a producer moving from evaluation to implementation is therefore not how certification works. It is what to certify against. That decision is made at scoping, before the first audit, and it is expensive to revisit.
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The destination sets the scheme
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Certification is not a single product. RSB certification operates as a suite of schemes, each built to a specific regulatory or market context, and each producing a claim that is recognised in some places and not others. A certificate is not a general statement of quality. It is a passport with visas for particular jurisdictions.
What does not vary is what sits underneath. Every scheme is a set of rules for implementing the same twelve Principles and Criteria (P&C) in a particular context, covering the greenhouse gas, land, water, soil, labour and food security exposure across an operation. The scheme determines which regulator recognises the claim. The P&C determine what the claim is worth.
An operator that has done that work once is not starting the P&C assessment again when it enters a second market, which is what makes the scoping decision below a question of sequencing rather than of repeated cost.
For an Indian SAF producer, four RSB schemes certify the fuel itself: CORSIA, EU RED, UK RTFO and Global Fuels. A fifth mechanism, book and claim, is frequently taken for certification when it is something else. Which of the four applies is not a question about the plant. It is a question about the fuel: where it is going, and who is buying it.
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RSB CORSIA certification: the international aviation route
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RSB CORSIA certification is the scheme built for SAF eligibility under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. RSB’s CORSIA standard was recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation in December 2020, and it specifies requirements for operators along the supply chain to produce SAF that is CORSIA-eligible whilst meeting RSB’s own requirements.
This is the scheme that matches India’s SAF policy design directly. If the indicative requirements are aimed at international flights, the carriers lifting that fuel are carriers with CORSIA obligations, and their compliance depends on documentation that flows from the fuel’s certification into their own emissions reporting. Under ICAO’s June 2025 criteria, CORSIA-eligible SAF must demonstrate at least a 10% lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction against baseline aviation fuel, alongside criteria covering carbon stock, water, soil, air, conservation, waste and chemicals, human and labour rights, land and water rights, local development and food securityii.
The practical consequence for scoping: a producer supplying domestic Indian carriers on international routes needs this scheme, and the requirement arrives with the offtake agreement rather than after it.
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RSB EU RED fuel certification: Europe, and the UK included
RSB EU RED certification for biofuels supports fuels entering the European Union, covering the EU’s own criteria and traceability requirements. RSB has been recognised by the European Commission for EU RED certification since 2011, and its EU RED standard was approved under the recast RED II regulations following a committee vote in February 2022.
The part that matters commercially, and that producers regularly miss, is what that certificate also unlocks. In October 2025, RSB’s EU RED scheme was recognised under the United Kingdom’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. The UK Department for Transport recognises EU-approved voluntary schemes, which means:
An operator holding RSB EU RED certification can demonstrate compliance with UK criteria using the certificate they already have. Proof of Sustainability documents go directly into the RTFO Operating System. No second scheme, no duplicate audit, no separate certification cost.
The recognition covers biofuels, biomethane, multi-feedstock systems and global supply chains.
For an Indian producer weighing European and UK offtake, that is one certification decision covering two markets rather than two decisions covering one each. It is also the clearest illustration of why scope should be decided at the outset: a producer who scopes for the EU has the UK available to them, whilst a producer who scopes narrowly for a single offtake agreement may find themselves re-auditing to reach a market they could have covered from the start.
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RSB Global Fuels certification: the voluntary route
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Not every buyer is a regulator. RSB Global Fuels Certification is a voluntary scheme applying to fuel production anywhere in the world, demonstrating real greenhouse gas reductions whilst addressing deforestation, food security and ecological impact.
Voluntary markets describe who requires the sustainability certificate, not how much preparation is demanded to achieve it.
For a producer, that is the commercial value: the claim does not weaken because the obligation is contractual rather than statutory.
The RSB Global Advanced Fuels Standard is the voluntary RSB certification scheme where the driver is a corporate buyer’s own procurement requirements rather than solely a jurisdictional mandate: a multinational carrier with internal standards stricter than its legal obligations, an investor with conditions attached, an off-taker whose customers are asking questions. Given that a significant share of early SAF demand is voluntary rather than mandated, this route is more commercially relevant than its “voluntary” label suggests.
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Book and claim is a separate certification, not an alternative one
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This is where the confusion usually sits, and it is worth being precise because the error can be expensive.
Book and claim allows a supplier to reach buyers beyond the reach of a physical supply chain. A customer whose aircraft never carries the fuel can still purchase the environmental attribute, demonstrating demand and supporting supply development. For a market where physical SAF availability is limited and geographically concentrated, that mechanism matters.
It is not a substitute for certifying the fuel. Book and claim is a claims and tracking system. It handles what happens to an attribute after the fuel is certified, not whether the fuel qualifies in the first place. A producer wanting to register units in the RSB Book & Claim Registry needs RSB Book & Claim Trader Certification, which covers chain of custody and management practices, and that certification sits on top of a certified fuel rather than in place of one.
The scoping implication: book and claim is a route to market access, not a route around certification.
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The modules: low ILUC risk
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Two further options exist, and neither works alone.
The RSB Low ILUC Risk Biomass Module allows an operator to demonstrate that their operations are unlikely to displace equivalent biomass production elsewhere, addressing indirect land-use change. The Low ILUC Module is voluntary additions to an existing RSB scheme, and neither may be used as standalone certification.
For an Indian producer, the low ILUC risk module is the one worth understanding early. Where feedstock draws on agricultural land or competes with existing uses, and India’s shifting ethanol feedstock mix makes that a live question, the ability to demonstrate low displacement risk is a claim that buyers in scrutiny-heavy markets increasingly ask for. It is easier to build into a scoping decision than to bolt on afterwards.
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What to decide before the enquiry to apply for RSB certification
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Four questions, answered before a producer contacts anyone, will make the certification process shorter and the outcome more accurate.
- Which markets does this fuel serve and what supply chains and markets am I targeting to gain access to? International aviation points to RSB CORSIA. Europe and the UK point to RSB EU RED. Corporate and voluntary buyers point to RSB Global Fuels. Most producers with export ambitions land on more than one.
- What is the feedstock you are utilizing or sourcing, is it eligible under the scope of certification you are applying for?
- Is book and claim part of the route to market, which adds a Trader certification on top of the fuel certification rather than replacing it?
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Where to start
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For refiners, emerging fuel producers and feedstock producers and aggregators building SAF capacity in India, the scheme selection is not a technicality to be resolved once the plant is running. It is the decision that determines which markets the output can enter, and it is cheapest to make correctly at the point when the plant is still a drawing.
To work out which RSB scheme fits an operation, and what scoping it correctly requires, get in touch with RSB’s Certification team.
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The post RSB CORSIA certification and beyond: which scheme an Indian SAF producer needs, and where. appeared first on RSB.
