India, March 25 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
The Union Cabinet in its meeting held on 18-09-2024 approved continuation of DBT schemes namely, 'Biotechnology Research & Development', 'Industrial & Entrepreneurship Development' and a new component of 'Biomanufacturing & Biofoundry' as one scheme "Biotechnology Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (Bio-RIDE)". Bio-RIDE scheme has been designed to foster innovation, promote bio-entrepreneurship, and strengthen India's position as a global leader in biomanufacturing and biotechnology. It aims to accelerate research, enhance product development, and bridge the gap between academic research and industrial applications. The scheme is part of the Government of India's mission to harness the potential of bio-innovation to tackle national and global challenges such as healthcare, agriculture, environmental sustainability, and clean energy.
The Department and it's Public Sector Undertaking "Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council" have been supporting research, development & innovation projects in biotechnology sector along with human resource development and scientific infrastructure support which has resulted in generation of several publications, patents and also training of manpower. The DBT's ongoing efforts align with its vision of harnessing the potential of Biotechnology as a precision tool for national development and well-being of society to fulfill its mission to make India globally competitive in Biotechnology research, innovation, translation, entrepreneurship, and industrial growth and be a US$300 billion Bioeconomy by 2030. The significant achievements of the Bio-RIDE scheme are as follows:
The Department of Biotechnology supports Biotech startup ecosystem though it's PSU Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). BIRAC plays a key role in promoting industry-led innovation and supporting biotechnology startups through the structured programmes across biotechnology domains. BIRAC implements a range of programmes to support research, technology development, and commercialization through incubation, funding, mentoring, and industry partnerships. Key initiatives include:
The Department of Biotechnology also supports a program on Biodesign. The programme works on the principle of - Identify, Invent and Implement. This involves amalgamation of professionals and fellows from medical and engineering background, who through immersion programmes identify the need and then design a device or solution to address it. The fellows are encouraged to implement the solution through spin-offs. At present, six Biodesign Centers across the Country twining over 20 leading medical schools and technical institutions are providing the biodesign capacity building and indigenous med-tech innovations. Since inception, more than 250 med-tech innovators have been trained and more than 60 Start-ups created, through this initiative.
Further, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), through the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) program, has established incubation centres in academic and research institutions across the country. These incubation centres leverage the expertise of these academic/research institutions to promote S&T based Entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem; by supporting innovators, entrepreneurs and startups.
NIDHI is a comprehensive end-to-end Startup support Scheme to nurture startups from ideation to commercialization. It includes a variety of components for Startups like PRAYAS (for early-stage funding and mentoring), Seed funding and accelerators. For institutions, programs such as NIDHI Technology Business Incubator (TBI), NIDHI Inclusive Technology Business Incubator (iTBI) and NIDHI Centre of Excellence provide OpEx and CapEx support for setting up of Startup Incubators.
Other than above, Departments/ Ministries of Government of India such as Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Defence are also supporting startups in various technological domains including biotechnology.
With a view to strengthen the domestic biopharmaceutical sector and enhance global competitiveness in biologics and biosimilars, the Government has announced the Biopharma SHAKTI scheme with an outlay of Rs.10,000 crore over five years with an objective to build a globally competitive domestic ecosystem for biologics and biosimilars to support affordable healthcare in India and enable India to emerge as a global biopharma manufacturing and innovation hub.
Science diplomacy is one of the catalytic instruments to support international cooperation, not just in scientific areas but also in various areas of development cooperation with international stakeholders to build a trusted relationship between nations. The Government is taking proactive efforts to adopt innovative ways of pursuing our scientific diplomacy with key partner countries and stakeholder international organisations. The Govt has supported R&D bilateral partnerships with several countries, including Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Canada, South Korea, UK and the USA. Multilateral partnerships have been established with the European Union, BRICS, G20, Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) and European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). The Govt. through Ministry of Science & Technology has also partnered with international philanthropic organizations such as the Gates Foundation (USA), and the Wellcome Trust (UK).
The Department of Biotechnology supports research, development and innovation project proposals including proposals to establish any new research or innovation centres in institutions across India under the competitive research grant mechanism.
This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent charge) for the Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
