Honourable mention for bioeconomy in Interim Budget, with trillion-dollar potential in mind
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses the post-Budget press conference, in New Delhi, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
In her speech for the 2024-2025 Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke of “a new scheme of bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry” to provide “environment-friendly alternatives such as biodegradable polymers, bio-plastics, bio-pharmaceuticals and bio-agri-inputs”.
The announcement is part of a bid to have the bio-economy contribute $300 billion to the Indian economy by 2030, representing a jump of around ₹18 lakh crore in value from current levels, and $1 trillion by 2047. The products of the bio-economy also play key roles in India’s sustainability and ‘green’ economy targets.
“The way to upskill India’s bio-science sector is to put money into bio-manufacturing and not only prioritise research,” Shambhavi Naik, a researcher at The Takshashila Institution, said.
In the 2024-2025 Budget, the total allocation for the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has been cut by 16%, to ₹2,251.52 crore, potentially slowing its recovery from the highs of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it helped develop vaccines, to the pre-pandemic level.
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The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public-sector enterprise under the DBT that interfaces between academia and industry, has also been allocated what it was in 2023-2024 — ₹40 crore — even though its actual expenditure was higher.
The bio-economy refers to all economic activities that use biotechnologies to produce value, and includes vaccines, diagnostics, bio-ethanol, bio-plastics, genetically modified crops, etc. According to the latest Indian BioEconomy Report (IBER), published by BIRAC in 2023, “The [Indian] innovation ecosystem continues to flourish, and we aspire to become one of the top 5 global bio-manufacturing hubs and among the top 10 biotechnology destinations globally.”
The new bio-manufacturing scheme “will also help in transforming today’s consumptive manufacturing paradigm to the one based on regenerative principles,” Ms. Sitharaman added.
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“Apart from the faux connection that increased supply will change consumption, the initiative is much needed,” Ms. Naik said. “As with any initiative, it will depend on what the initiative will do. It is not only about the money and tax breaks, but we need to focus on two pivotal things: creating appropriately trained workforce for bio-manufacturing and accessing the appropriate raw materials.”
Considering the existing gap in vocational training, the country currently has “highly paid Ph.Ds or low skilled BSc/MSc” graduates, Ms. Naik said. “We have for a long time now recommended an accreditation course for bio-manufacturing.”
The 2023 IBER report identified many opportunities to boost bio-manufacturing in the country, including a $2 billion investment to help start-ups transition to “large-scale manufacturing”, introducing a production-linked incentive scheme to improve production, and instituting a single-window clearance system for bio-manufacturers.
