India Launches INR 2000 Cr BIRAC-RDI Fund to Accelerate Biotech Innovation

The fund will support technologies across TRL 4 to 9 through equity, convertible instruments and long-term debt, enabling startups and SMEs to transition from proof-of-concept to commercial production.

India has launched the first national BIRAC-RDI fund of INR 2000 Cr under the INR 1 lakh crore RDI initiative to scale biotechnology innovation, bridge the lab-to-industry gap, and strengthen India’s position in the global bioeconomy.

The BIRAC-RDI Fund forms part of the broader national RDI framework approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2025 and rolled out in November 2025 under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), anchored by the Department of Science and Technology.

Designed to strengthen India’s research-to-market pipeline, the initiative seeks to support high-impact, high-risk projects that require patient capital and advanced infrastructure.

India’s bioeconomy has expanded sharply, rising from approximately USD 8 billion in 2014 to USD 165.7 billion in 2024. The government has set a target of reaching USD 300 billion by 2030 and USD 1 trillion by 2047.

Announcing the call, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said the programme signals a transition from what he described as “policy hesitation” to “policy acceleration” in biotechnology. “Biotechnology will drive the next phase of industrial growth, much like information technology did in the past,” he said. “The message is loud and clear: we are no longer late starters. India is ready to play a leading role in the global innovation landscape.”

Under the BIRAC-RDI mechanism, INR 2,000 crore will be deployed over a period of up to five years, with flexibility for expansion based on demand and outcomes.

The fund will support technologies across Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 4 to 9 through equity, convertible instruments and long-term debt, enabling startups and small and medium enterprises to transition from proof-of-concept to commercial production.

Officials have indicated that the BIRAC-RDI Fund will complement the BioE3 policy and catalyse innovation across biopharma, bio-industrial manufacturing, bioenergy, blue economy and biocomputation.

The Minister also pointed to emerging domains such as space biotechnology and space medicine, noting that indigenous biotechnology experiments are already being conducted in space, covering plant and life sciences research.

For stakeholders in digital health and biotechnology, the call represents a structured financing pathway to convert scientific research into deployable health technologies.

Applications for the BIRAC-RDI national call are now open through the official portal, with Phase 1 submissions due by March 31, 2026.

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