Government's BioE3 Push: 16 Biomanufacturing Hubs Planned To Cut Import Dependence For Drugs, Biofuels, And Bio-Fertilisers

The government plans to establish around 16 biomanufacturing hubs across India under its BioE3 policy to reduce import dependence on key components such as pharmaceutical agents, biofuel enzymes, and reagents for biofertilizers, The Indian Express reported.

A list of 1,000 such products identified for indigenous manufacturing will soon be published on a government website ,

The move comes amid a broader push for domestic manufacturing since the Covid-19 pandemic, supported by performance-linked incentives.

While India has scaled up drug production, fermentation-based products remain a challenge.

Officials said large fermenters of 500 to 1,000 litres at these hubs will help boost output of medicines, biofuels, and other critical products, while reducing upfront investment for start-ups and small firms.

The hubs will also support scaling up of innovative solutions such as monoclonal antibody therapies, carbon capture technologies, and smart proteins.

The Department of Biotechnology has already set up six biofoundries in institutions including NABI Mohali, Tata Memorial Centre, ICGEB New Delhi, THSTI Faridabad, IPFT Gurugram, and NCCS Pune to develop and test such projects.

Officials said proof-of-concept innovations developed in these biofoundries can be taken to manufacturing at the biomanufacturing hubs.

The facilities will be set up in research institutes, private companies, or near industry-specific knowledge centres and will be accessible to government labs, universities, start-ups, and businesses.

As per the policy, start-ups will be charged a maximum of 5 per cent over the actual costs while companies may pay up to 15 per cent to cover consumables, manpower, and overheads.

The policy also states that the facility will not claim any intellectual property rights.

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