India’s central bank is drafting measures to make the INR a “global currency,”Reuters reports. The Reserve Bank of India’s Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) recommended the opening of INR-denominated accounts for Indian nationals residing abroad, more integration between payment systems in India and those abroad, and allowing the INR to be an additional settlement currency in multilateral mechanisms like the Asian Clearing Union. “The measures for promoting internationalization of the INR would involve steps towards parallelly liberalizing the capital account, promoting international usage of the INR and strengthening financial markets,” Reuters quotes the IDG as saying. Changes will likely roll out over a two- to five-year timeframe, WAM reported.

BP is investing USD 10 mn into biofuel startup WasteFuel to help produce cleaner fuels for shipping, according to a press release. The investment, managed by BP’s venture capital arm BP Ventures, will fund the startup’s efforts to convert municipal and agricultural refuse into biomethanol fuels to power ships. It also allows the startup to advance its plans to develop its first waste-to-bio-methanol plant in the UAE.

This is part of wider plans for BP to decarbonize transport: “BP is in action to produce more biofuels, aiming to deliver around 100k barrels-per-day by 2030, to help decarbonize transport,” BP’s vice president of next generation biofuels Philipp Schoelzel said in the statement.

SOUND SMART- Methanol is a favorite for replacing oil-derived marine fuels and can result in substantial cutbacks to emissions. The fuel has so far attracted major investments from shipping giants AP Moller-Maersk and CMA CGM.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING-

  • Airbus deliveries increased6% y-o-y to 316 aircraftin 1H 2023, up from 297 a year prior. The aerospace designer and manufacturer is targeting 720 aircraft deliveries for the year. (Reuters)
  • Lufthansa Cargo will be the first to receive Jettainer’s fire-resistantUnit Load Device (ULDs) containers, which can contain a fire for up to six hours. (Press release)
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