India’s bio-economy touched $150.97 billion in 2023, marking a 9 % increase from $137.2 billion in 2022, estimates India BioEconomy Report 2024, the just released annual publication of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), an entity set up by the Department of Biotechnology as an industry-academia interface.

“We expect this to reach $300 billion by 2030, marking a crucial step in our economic transformation and positioning India as a global biotech leader,” Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, said.

The bio-industrial segment, valued at $72.6 billion, accounts for 48% of the Indian bio-economy. The growth in this segment is due to the growing adoption of bio-based solutions across sectors such as bio-fuels, chemicals, bio-plastics, and enzymatic applications in various industries, the report says. The second biggest component, with a 35.65% share in Indian bio-economy is bio-pharmaceuticals. Valued at $53.8 billion, this segment encompasses pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, and biologics.

Bio-agriculture (8.24% share, $12.4 billion) including precision agriculture technologies, and bio-IT/Research services (8.02% share, $12.1 billion), like contract research, clinical trials, bioinformatics, biotech software, etc. form the other components of the Indian bio-economy.

The report considers the advancement of India’s ethanol blended petrol programme to be one of the key growth drivers of the bio-economy. “The country’s installed bio-ethanol capacity saw a remarkable surge, reaching 13.8 billion litres in 2023, with projections indicating a further expansion to 14.5 billion litres in 2024,” the report said. It also said that the Indian biotechnology and life sciences sector added 1,776 startups in 2023, up from 1,390 in 2022 and 1,128 startups in 2021, indicating a rising demand for biotech innovations in healthcare and sustainability.

The central government had recently launched a BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment, and Employment) Policy to promote the development and production of bio-based chemicals and enzymes, smart proteins, precision bio-therapeutics, climate-resilient agriculture, carbon capture and utilisation, and advanced marine and space research.

The BioE3 Policy will support the establishment of cutting-edge bio-manufacturing facilities, bio-foundry clusters, and Bio-AI hubs. The biotech hubs will bridge the gap between research and commercial manufacturing, fostering collaboration between startups, SMEs, and established companies. They will also integrate AI to analyse large-scale biological data, paving the way for advancements in gene therapies, food processing, and more.

Bio-pharmaceuticals

India's bio-economy grew 9% to $151 billion in 2023