India is sharpening its ambition to become a global biomanufacturing powerhouse, with the BioE3 Policy laying out a technology-first framework built on genome editing, synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, bioprocessing, data science and AI/ML tools to accelerate the development of high-value bio-based products. 

The policy identifies six national priority sectors spanning biobased chemicals, APIs and enzymes, smart proteins, precision biotherapeutics, climate-resilient agriculture, carbon capture, and futuristic marine and space research. 

This was shared by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh in the Rajya Sabha on April 2, 2026.

At the heart of the strategy is the rollout of “मूलांकुर BioEnablers”—a nationwide public-private network of Bio-AI hubs, Biofoundries and Biomanufacturing Hubs designed to bridge India’s innovation-to-commercialisation gap. These facilities are expected to provide shared pilot and pre-commercial scale infrastructure, enabling startups, academic labs and SMEs to scale breakthrough biotech solutions without heavy upfront capital costs.

A major early milestone is the newly inaugurated DBT-ICGEB Biofoundry in New Delhi, which government officials describe as a transformative interdisciplinary hub connecting laboratory science with industrial-scale production. Powered by Design-Build-Test-Learn workflows, bio-automation and artificial intelligence, the facility is built to compress microbial strain development timelines and improve precision in modern biomanufacturing. Recent “Bench to Bioautomation” workshops have also focused on skilling the next generation of biotech researchers in automated innovation cycles.

The Biofoundry is expected to directly support product development across food, agriculture, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and clean energy, using microbial platforms such as bacteria and yeast with scale-up capability of up to 20 litres for proof-of-concept validation before industry transfer. This infrastructure is seen as critical for faster market entry of sustainable products and for strengthening India’s industrial biotech ecosystem.

In a futuristic demonstration of the policy’s vision, India has also advanced space biotechnology experiments aboard the International Space Station, where indigenous microalgal and cyanobacterial strains were tested under microgravity. These organisms could potentially help capture excess CO2, recycle nutrients and generate food supplements for astronauts, opening pathways for biological life support systems in long-duration space missions.