On August 27, 2025, India launched its first National Biofoundry Network (NBN) under the BioE3 Policy, a pivotal move to propel the nation’s $165.7 billion bioeconomy toward a $300 billion target by 2030. Spearheaded by Union Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, the NBN integrates six leading institutions—ICGEB (New Delhi), NCCS (Pune), THSTI (Faridabad), ACTREC (Mumbai), IPFT (Haryana), and NABI (Punjab)—to transform biotechnology research into market-ready solutions.
The network leverages synthetic biology, gene editing, and AI-driven tools to advance healthcare, climate-smart agriculture, and green biotechnology, fostering self-reliance by scaling up indigenous biomanufacturing.The NBN provides shared infrastructure for startups, SMEs, academia, and industry, enabling rapid design, building, and testing of biological systems.
Specialized facilities include probiotics production in Ahmedabad, pharma and cosmetics at IIT Madras, and marine biotechnology in Bhubaneswar. By fostering global collaborations with international biofoundries, the NBN positions India as a biotech innovation hub, addressing local challenges while contributing to global sustainability goals.
The BioE3 Challenge starting October 2025, monthly challenges will award ₹1 lakh to the top 10 solutions, with 100 innovators eligible for up to ₹25 lakh in BIRAC funding for proof-of-concept development. This initiative aims to nurture grassroots innovation and create biotech jobs.Supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and BIRAC, the NBN aligns with India’s broader biotech goals, including a Biomanufacturing Institute in Mohali and Bio-AI hubs. Challenges like skill shortages in bioinformatics and regulatory gaps for biosafety remain, but the NBN marks a transformative step toward a bio-enabled economy by 2047, reinforcing India’s leadership in sustainable biotechnology.
