India's first biofuel-powered flight lands at Delhi airport 

India's first partially biofuel-powered aircraft took off from Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport and landed at Delhi's IGI Airport Terminal-2 today.

SpiceJet's 72-seater Q400 turboprop was flagged off by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

The airline said it successfully operated "India's first ever biojet fuel flight".

The flight was powered with a blend of 75 per cent air turbine fuel (ATF) and 25 per cent biojet fuel, it said.

Made from Jatropha crop, the fuel has been developed by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, SpiceJet said.

With the attempt, India entered the list of select countries to have tried biofuel-driven aviation.

According to reports, the biofuel blend is made partially from renewable resources like agricultural residues, non-edible oils and bio-degradable industrial and municipal wastes.

While this was India's first attempt at testing a biofuel-powered flight, countries like Canada, Australia, the United States are already operating such commercial flights.

In the wake of spiralling aviation fuel costs, biofuel can serve as a feasible alternative to costly turbine fuel.

(With inputs from PTI)