Centre identifies 21 bio-enabler facilities as shared infrastructure to promote biotech manufacturing

The central government has announced plans to operationalise India’s first Biofoundry Network, a public-private collaborative initiative that brings together 21 cutting-edge bio-enabler facilities across India, offering shared infrastructure to start-ups, SMEs, industries, and academic institutions.

The facilities range from biofoundries working on microbial strains, smart proteins, probiotics, and bio-based chemicals to biomanufacturing hubs developing next-generation cell therapies, mRNA-based medicines, marine bio-innovations, and sustainable biofuels. Collectively, these will act as bio-enablers of innovation and commercialisation, unlocking new opportunities for industry and academia alike.

The centres will support pilot and pre-commercial scale technologies across diverse sectors, including microbial biomanufacturing, sustainable agriculture, smart proteins, functional foods, precision biotherapeutics, marine biotechnology, carbon capture, and next-generation cell and gene therapies.

The bio-foundries and biomanufacturing hubs to be established by industries, incubators and academia-industry collaborations as part of this network include a pilot scale facility (100 L) to scale up specialty chemicals and enzyme to be built by Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID), Bangalore (with Tata Chemicals Limited ), a GMP grade facility for gene delivery vector by Immunoadoptive Cell Therapy Private Limited, Mumbai, a fermentation facility (10 KL) to produce drug intermediates to be set up by Hi Tech Biosciences India Ltd, Pune, pilot scale and large scale fermenters to be established by Embio Ltd, Mumbai, a fermentation facility for functional foods by Laurus Bio, Visakhapatnam and a state of the art facility for commercial production of mAbs and enzymes by Virchow Biotech Private Limited, Hyderabad.

The network will also include Agilent Bioplus LLP’s upcoming plant to scale up the production of gluconates, Revelations Biotech Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad’s QMS compliant facility for commercial production of Fructo-oligo saccharides, a fermentation facility at 1 KL scale for food based products by HiMedia Laboratories, Mumbai and a QMS compliant facility for commercial production of probiotics by Sundyota Numandis Probioceuticals Private Limited, Ahmedabad.

The facility to be set up by IIT-Madras (with TICEL Bio Park Ltd, Chennai) to support development and scale up of products used in pharma & cosmetics, the facility for sequestration of CO2 that is being set up by Jindal Steel, Angul, KIIT Technology Business Incubator (Bhubaneswar)’s planned facility for marine biotech products and the country’s first Animal Stem Cell repository to be set up by National institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), Hyderabad with HiMedia Laboratories, Mumbai will be part of this network.

The biomanufacturing hub for mRNA-based precision medicine to be established by Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Limited, Pune is another facility in this network.

“This is more than just infrastructure—it is a transformative ecosystem that will create jobs, promote green growth, and reinforce India’s standing as a global bioeconomy leader. By aligning with our climate commitments and the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, we are laying the foundation for a multi-trillion-dollar bioeconomy by 2047,” says Union Minister of State (IC) Science & Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh.