S&T Minister unveils roadmap to take India's bioeconomy to $700 B by 2035

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology (S&T) Dr Jitendra Singh recently announced the launch of the roadmap for "Making India a Leading Bioeconomy Power by 2035".

A central proposal of the roadmap is the creation of a Rs 50,000 crore BioEconomy Growth Fund (2026–2035) to close India’s most dangerous gap - the “valley of death” between proof-of-concept and manufacturing at scale.

Anchored within the national RDI framework, this fund would deploy blended finance, catalytic equity and infrastructure support for biomanufacturing, advanced therapeutics, fermentation platforms, biomaterials, diagnostics and synthetic biology.

NITI Aayog member Prof. Govardhan Das said that the roadmap aims to take India's bioeconomy to about $700 billion by 2035 with the help of the proposed Bioeconomy Development Fund of Rs 50,000 crore, improved talent pipeline and world-class bio-manufacturing capabilities. He appealed to the industry, researchers and investors to work together towards making India one of the top biotechnology powers in the world.

The roadmap proposes a decisive shift from fragmented programmes to National BioMissions with time bound delivery. Flagship efforts being suggested are:

1. GeneIndia - To make affordable gene and cell therapies and precision diagnostics available to Indian patients, built on population-scale genomic capabilities.
2. AgriBio 2.0 - To deliver climate-resilient, farmer-owned crop varieties and quality-assured bio inputs that improve farm profitability and reduce chemical dependence.
3. BioX Foundry - To turn India’s industrial biotech innovations into commercial-scale products, building a globally competitive base of synthetic-biology enterprises.
4. One Health Grid - To enable AI-assisted disease detection and coordinated response to emerging infectious diseases, zoonotic threats and AMR across human, animal and environmental health.
5. Marine Biotechnology - To grow India’s marine-derived exports and coastal bioeconomies through seaweed cultivation, marine bioproducts and blue-economy innovation.
6. BioPharmaNext - To establish India as a global hub for affordable, next-generation biologics, biosimilars, vaccines, and cell and gene therapeutics.

This roadmap has been prepared by NITI Frontier Tech Hub (FTH) in consultation with experts and stakeholders.