Govt To Give 75 Collaborative Grants Worth INR 10-15 Cr For Biotech Startups, Academia

Minister of State (MoS) for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Monday (August 22) announced 75 ‘Amrit’ grants for collaborative biotech initiatives involving startups, industry, academia and research bodies.

“75 inter-disciplinary, multi-institutional grants would be supported for high-risk, ambitious research ideas, milestones-driven collaborative research in all domain specific areas of the biotech sector,” Singh said.

The minister added that startups, along with other stakeholders, will be allowed to form teams in a public-private partnership (PPP) mode and will be able to avail grants of INR 10-15 Cr over a period of two to three years for high quality research.

The grants will broadly be available for research in areas including health, agribiotech, climate change, synthetic biology and sustainable bioresource management to address ‘national priorities to propel India as a global leader’ in biotechnology.

“Under this initiative, ambitious research ideas, high-risk, milestone-driven collaborative research for knowledge-based discoveries with broad demonstrable application from both academia and industry will be considered for support,” said MoS Singh. 

Termed DBT-BIRAC 75 Amrit Team Grant, the initiative has been envisaged as part of the government’s focus on research, built around the slogan of ‘Jai Anusandhan’ (hail research).  

The minister said that venture creation and knowledge-based discovery solutions for societal needs will be the key components of this initiative. 

“This initiative builds on the deep foundation of partnerships to support new and innovative research programs, which aims to propel India to a position of global leadership”, noted Singh. 

The grants come amidst the government’s renewed focus on the domain in recent months. Earlier this year, a two-day Biotech Startup Expo 2022 was organised in New Delhi to provide a common platform for investors and entrepreneurs to connect at a single place.

At the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that nearly 1,100 biotech startups have emerged in the country in the last year.

In May, Singh also launched a single national portal for startups and researchers seeking regulatory clearance for biological research and development in the country.

The Indian biotechnology industry was pegged at $63 Bn in 2019 and is projected to soar to the $150 Bn mark by 2025, on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic-led boom and increased demand for biotechnology products.

The space is largely led by players such as Biocon and Serum Institute of India as well as startups like MedGenome.

Earlier this month, Bengaluru-based biotech startup Eyestem secured $6.4 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Biological E, Alkem, among others.