'BioRRAP': Single National Portal To Track Regulatory Approvals For Biological Research Launched

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Saturday (21 May) launched single National portal for biotech researchers and start-ups.

The portal "BioRRAP" will cater to all those seeking regulatory approval for biological research and development activity in the country and thus offer a huge relief for "Ease of Science as well as Ease of Business", the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a release.

Speaking after the launch of Biological Research Regulatory Approval Portal (BioRRAP), Singh said India is poised to become a global bio-manufacturing hub and will figure among the top five countries of the world by 2025.

He said the portal will also allow stakeholders to see the approvals accorded against a particular application through a unique BioRRAP ID.

He described this unique portal of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) as a step towards Ease of Doing Science and Scientific research and Ease of Start-ups in India.

The minister said bio-technology has fast emerged as an academic and livelihood avenue for youngsters in India. He also pointed out that there are over 2,700 biotech start-ups and more than 2,500 biotech companies working at present in the country.

Describing the launch of portal as whole of government approach in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, Singh said this portal will strengthen interdepartmental synergies and bring accountability, transparency and efficacy in functioning of agencies regulating various aspect of biological research and issuing permission.

Congratulating the Department of Biotechnology for launching of BioRRAP portal, the minister suggested that the department should endeavour to evolve further mechanisms to make the procedures simpler and effective, the ministry said.

He added that research in the various biological fields is continuously expanding its vista in India supported by the grants from various public and private sector. Many of these research falls under the purview of one or more regulatory agencies which first approve the research proposal after which researcher undertakes that specific research.

The minister further added that at present there is no mechanism to track the requisite regulatory approval for a research proposal on a single portal and therefore, to provide more credibility and recognition to such biological researches, the Centre has developed a web system under which each research, requiring regulatory oversight, will be identified by a unique ID called “BioRRAP ID”.

He said the portal will serve as a gateway and will help researcher to see stage of approval of their applications for regulatory clearances and to see preliminary information on all the research work being undertaken by the particular researcher and/or organization.

Singh directed the DBT officials for wider publicity of this unique National Portal and asked them to make short duration films capturing all the nuances of the registration and regulatory approval through the portal.

Coming back to India emerging as a global bio-manufacturing hub, Singh informed that India is among the top 12 destinations for biotechnology globally and third largest biotechnology destination in the Asia Pacific region.

The minister said that by 2025, the contribution of the Indian biotechnology industry in the global biotechnology market is expected to grow to 19 per cent from a mere 3 per cent in 2017.

He also added that the bio economy’s contribution to the national GDP has also grown steadily in the past years to 2.7 per cent in 2020 from 1.7 per cent in 2017 and will touch new heights after 25 years of bio-economy journey in the centenary year of 2047.