New Delhi, Sep 1 (UNI) India has taken a significant leap in the global biotechnology arena, now hosting 21 out of 121 bio-companies worldwide, union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh said.
Launching the High-Performance Biomanufacturing Platforms under the new BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) Policy here at an event, he described the initiative as a critical milestone in positioning India as a global hub for biotechnology-led growth.
“India now accounts for 21 out of the 121 Bio-Companies globally. This is not a small achievement for a country that once followed others; today, we are among the first movers in institutionalising biomanufacturing policy,” he remarked, according to a statement here.
“BioEnablers are the foundation of India’s next wave of biotechnology-led growth. By providing world-class platforms, tools, and infrastructure, BioEnablers empower our scientists, StartUps, and industry to move faster from ideas to innovations, and from laboratories to markets,” Dr. Singh added.
The newly launched initiative includes 21 advanced bio-enabler facilities across the country, offering shared infrastructure to startups, SMEs, industries, and academic institutions. These facilities span domains such as microbial biomanufacturing, smart proteins, sustainable agriculture, functional foods, carbon capture, marine biotechnology, and next-generation cell and gene therapies, said the statement.
DBT Secretary Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale hailed the launch as a “pioneering step” expected to accelerate India’s leadership in the global bioeconomy and foster sustainable solutions across sectors.
Industry leaders and researchers at the event underlined the vital role of government-supported infrastructure in advancing frontier technologies like CAR-T cell therapy, mRNA platforms, marine biofoundries, synthetic biology, and probiotics. However, they also pointed out challenges, including the lack of indigenous large-scale production of vectors and plasmids, regulatory bottlenecks for probiotics, and the need to integrate marine and blue economy opportunities more effectively, as per the statement.
