Bharat Life Sciences Award 2026 distributes Rs 7 Cr worth grants to promote scientific ecosystem

The inaugural ceremony of Bharat Life Sciences Award was held on 1 October at Vigyan Bhavan, Delhi. It is a first-of-its-kind national platform for recognising excellence across the life sciences ecosystem.

Organised by FICCI and powered by Eli Lilly and Company, the Bharat Life Sciences Award honoured individuals, teams, key institutions, innovators, and ecosystem builders whose work advances scientific discovery, strengthens health systems, and delivers meaningful public health impact.

Six awards were distributed under two major categories, with a grant of Rs 1.5 crore for each winner in the Samman category- 

A. Samman (Grant)-

1 Ramanujan Arogya Udaan Samman (Individual Excellence – Young Scientist Award)- Dr Vamsee Mallajosyula, National Centre for Biological Sciences

(Bharti Bhatia of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute named runner-up, received a grant of Rs 50 lakh)

2 Charaka Arogya Samman (Collaborative Innovation – Innovation for Unmet Patient Needs)- Pacify Medical Technologies

3 Sushruta Arogya Samman (Collaborative Innovation – Translational & Clinical Advancement)- Bharat Serums and Vaccines

4 Nalanda Arogya Vigyan Samman (Institute of Scientific Excellence)- BRIC- BRIC-National Institute of Biomedical Genomics 

(LV Prasad Eye Institute named as runner-up, received Rs 50 lakh)

B. Gaurav (Recognition)-

1 Jivaka Arogya Navpravartan Gaurav (Academic Institutes/Think-Tanks/Startup Innovator in Healthcare / Life Sciences)- Sciverse Solutions

2 Sarabhai Arogya Drishti Gaurav (Promoting Scientific Ecosystems in India)- @Dr Ratnesh Jain, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai Biocluster

The winners were felicitated in the presence of Manoj Joshi, Secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals; David A Ricks, chair and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company; Pankaj Patel, past president of FICCI and chairman of Zydus Lifesciences; Anant Swarup, Secretary General of FICCI; and Dr Gobardhan Das, member of NITI Aayog.

In addition to the awards ceremony, an innovation summit was also organised with industry experts and government officials deliberating upon interesting topics such as AI Accelerating Drug Discovery; Opportunities in advancing vaccine and infectious disease platforms and development capabilities; and Advancing India's Life Sciences Manufacturing Ecosystem.