New Delhi: The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of two schemes of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), merged as one scheme. A new component, namely Biomanufacturing and Biofoundry has been introduced under the scheme ‘Biotechnology Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (Bio-RIDE)’.The planned outlay for the unified scheme is Rs.9197 crore till the year 2025-26.
Broadly the scheme has the following three components:
- a) Biotechnology Research and Development (R&D)
- b) Industrial & Entrepreneurship Development (I&ED)
- c) Biomanufacturing and Biofoundry
Bio-RIDE scheme aims to foster innovation, promote bio-entrepreneurship, and strengthen India’s position as a global leader in biomanufacturing and biotechnology. It is part of the Government’s mission to utilize the potential of bio-innovation to tackle national and global challenges such as healthcare, agriculture, environmental sustainability, and clean energy.
The scheme will focus on the following objectives:
Promoting Bio-Entrepreneurship for startups through the provision of seed funding, incubation support, and mentorship to the entrepreneurs.
Offering grants and incentives for advanced research and development in areas like synthetic biology, biopharmaceuticals, bioenergy, and bioplastics.
Facilitating industry-academia collaboration to accelerate the commercialization of bio-based products and technologies.
Encouraging sustainable Biomanufacturing for promoting environmentally sustainable practices in biomanufacturing, aligned with India’s green goals.
Supporting researchers through extramural funding in areas such as agriculture, healthcare, bioenergy, and environmental sustainability.
Nurturing human resources in the Biotechnology sector through an integrated program on Human Resource Development to ensure capacity building and skilling of the manpower.
Enabling circular bio-economy in the country in line with the ‘Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE)’ initiative to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Discussion about this post