Transforming the biotech innovation ecosystem

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, established in 1986 and among the first dedicated biotechnology departments set up by any government, has been a catalyst in spearheading innovative solutions for developmental challenges. Biotechnology today has played a major role in impacting food and agriculture, nutrition, healthcare, the environment and industrial growth. As the field has progressed, DBT has made significant strides and aided in the economic and social growth of the country. From research ning prevention and cure for major diseases, to addressing the challenges of improved agriculture productivity, to developing innovative solutions for national nutrition needs and a clean environment, DBT is leading the way for path-breaking biotechnological research. Since its inception, DBT has been committed to delivering solutions for societal challenges with a focus on Make in India. Today, as we are positioned from discovery research to translational research, from academia to startups, from institutional collaboration to knowledge translational clusters; DBT has transformed the scientific innovation spectrum in India. Over the last three decades, DBT has created a very strong research and translation ecosystem across the country and has built strong foundations, leveraging the strength of national and international partnerships. With more than 15,000 scientists and 800 institutes and laboratories supported, DBT supports nearly 10,000 biotechnology research fellows and students annually. World class state of the art infrastructure has been created, which through the DBT's SAHAJ scheme has now been made accessible to all researchers and startups to take research and innovation across the country. Skill Vigyan life science and biotechnology centres have helped build an employable skilled human resource base. DBT has also made significant contributions by aligning its work to the national growth agenda and developing innovative solutions for the national missions of Swasth Bharat, Ayushman Bharat, Swatch Bharat, Poshaan Abhiyan, Start-up India, Make in India and Skill India. Academic and industry experts have successfully delivered to the country. The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) was set up to promote and nurture a vibrant startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem. BIRAC aims to foster excellence while supporting bio-innovations for societal benefit. Through an exponential learning curve in our short history, we have been able to consolidate the efforts to support competitive funding in diverse areas of biotechnology that have become a benchmark in the country. Through various funding programmes, we have noticed that there has been a significant boost to discovery research and a shift to product development, an area we wish to build deeper roots in so that the benefits of innovation-driven research reaches all. More than 1,000 startups and entrepreneurs with be supported under BIRAC. To take scientific research from the laboratory to the end user, the DBT has built an ecosystem that allows for seamless movement of research from the translation phase to commercialisation. The 16 institutions, four bioclusters, two public sector undertakings and over 5,000 extramural research projects have contributed to this. We have seen a growing trend over these years of moving from single-investigator to multi-investigator projects, from single institute to multi institute projects, and from only academia research to industry-academia innovation research and translation. New institutional partnerships and governance models have emerged. It is imperative that we do not conflate a self-reliant India with a self-centred India. International cooperation and collaboration are at the core of self-reliance. India’s progress will undoubtedly contribute to global progress. The DBT and BIRAC have epitomised this value by initiating multiple collaborative research and development programmes with several countries and philanthropic organisations in diverse areas of biotechnology. As the world looks for quick solutions to meet the huge healthcare challenges exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our effort is to ensure that our innovations continue to focus on scalability, sustainability and replicability. The integration of new and emerging technologies, linking biological science with data science, clinical research and engineering sciences, is the way forward to prepare to meet our ambitious target of achieving a US$150 billion bioeconomy by 2025 and to India becoming a US$100 billion biomanufacturing hub. Moving forward, our challenge is not just to strengthen the research and translation base but to ensure sustainability and scalability. The DBT has consistently brought to the fore the importance of science in all walks of life and has integrated innovation with national development. It has promoted science and technology as a way of thinking rather than a siloed field of work and envisions to continue to do so, and be a critical part of India’s growth story. As we prepare ourselves for a new world, our focus must be on the importance of indigenous research and development of impact-driven innovation. This is key to our march towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

• Indian Economy
• India
• Atmanirbhar Bharat
• Biotech Innovation Ecosystem
• biotechnology
• BIRAC
• COVID-19
• Make in India

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