DBT & BIRAC Announce Call for Proposals to Establish Bio-AI Hubs under BioE3 Policy

The call aligns with the BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment & Employment) Policy, approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2024, which promotes next-generation biomanufacturing in India.

In a significant push toward data-driven biomanufacturing, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) have jointly issued a Call for Proposals to establish Bio-AI hubs, named मूलांकुर (Moolankur), under the national BioE3 Policy.

These hubs aim to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Biology to drive cutting-edge research in key sectors such as healthcare, sustainable agriculture, environment, synthetic biology, and Ayurveda-based genome diagnostics. 

The call invites Letters of Intent (LoIs) from multidisciplinary teams across academia and industry with expertise in AI/ML, synthetic biology, and computational biology to propose innovative, data-driven research solutions.

According to DBT and BIRAC, the Bio-AI initiative is uniquely designed to tackle critical biological challenges through AI-powered biomolecular design and high-performance biomanufacturing frameworks. 

The selected proposals are expected to focus on problem statements in the above domains and offer practical, translational outcomes through collaborative and programmatic research.

The call aligns with the BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment & Employment) Policy, approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2024, which promotes next-generation biomanufacturing in India. 

The effort also complements the newly merged DBT scheme, Bio-RIDE (Biotechnology Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development), which now includes a dedicated Biomanufacturing and Biofoundry component.

With this initiative, the government aims to strengthen India’s bioeconomy, foster innovation, and build a sustainable biotech ecosystem using the convergence of AI and life sciences.

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