Bioeconomy and India's BioE3 Policy (2024)

The bioeconomy is the part of the economy that uses living things (plants, microbes like bacteria and yeast, animal cells) and biological processes to make products and services. Examples are vaccines, medicines, biofuels, enzymes used in detergents, bio-plastics and new kinds of food protein. India's main policy to grow this sector is the BioE3 Policy, which stands for Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment.

It aims to make India a leader in biomanufacturing, which means making products at factory scale using biology instead of chemicals from petroleum.

Why does it matter?

Today, a huge amount of what we use (plastics, chemicals, fertilisers, fuels) comes from petroleum. Making these releases greenhouse gases and depends on imported oil. Biomanufacturing can make many of the same things using microbes and renewable raw materials such as farm waste. Think of it like brewing: just as yeast turns sugar into curd or bread dough rises, engineered microbes can be "taught" to turn sugar or waste into useful chemicals, medicines or proteins. This can cut pollution, reduce imports and create jobs, including in small towns near farms.

Where did it come from?

India's biotech journey has several steps:

• 1986: The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) was set up under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
• 2012: DBT set up BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council), a not-for-profit company that funds biotech start-ups and industry research.
• 24 August 2024: The Union Cabinet approved the BioE3 Policy for "fostering high performance biomanufacturing". DBT is the nodal department.
• 18 September 2024: The Cabinet approved the Bio-RIDE scheme (Biotechnology Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development), with an outlay of ₹9,197 crore for 2021-22 to 2025-26. It merged DBT's two umbrella schemes and added a new biomanufacturing and biofoundry component.
• July 2026: NITI Aayog released a roadmap for building India into a leading bioeconomy power, calling for focused "BioMissions" that align research, regulation, money, infrastructure, skills and markets.

The six focus sectors of BioE3

The policy picks six areas where biology can make the biggest difference:

1. High-value bio-based chemicals, biopolymers and enzymes: replacing petroleum-based chemicals and plastics.
2. Smart proteins and functional foods: for example, proteins made by fermentation, and foods with added health benefits.
3. Precision biotherapeutics: advanced medicines such as gene and cell therapies, designed for specific diseases or patients.
4. Climate-resilient agriculture: crops and farm inputs that cope better with heat, drought and pests.
5. Carbon capture and its utilisation: using biology to trap carbon dioxide and turn it into useful products.
6. Futuristic marine and space research: using life from the sea and studying biology for space missions.

How does BioE3 work?

The policy builds shared facilities so that a scientist or start-up does not need to build its own expensive factory to test an idea:

• Bio-AI hubs: centres where computer experts and biologists work together, using artificial intelligence on large biological data (for example, genome data).
• Biofoundries: labs where scientists can quickly design, build and test engineered microbes or cells, often with automation.
• Biomanufacturing hubs: shared pilot plants and pre-commercial factories where a product that worked in the lab is scaled up to larger batches.

The policy also stresses tier-II and tier-III cities, where hubs can use local biomass (farm and forest waste), helping regional jobs. It is linked with India's goals of a net-zero carbon economy and Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment). The first calls for proposals under BioE3 drew more than 2,000 applications from universities and industry.

India's bioeconomy in numbers (India BioEconomy Report 2025)

• Size: about US$10 billion (2014) → US$151.1 billion (2023) → US$165.7 billion (2024), roughly a 16-fold rise in ten years.
• Share of GDP: about 4.25% (2024).
• Targets: cross US$200 billion by 2027 and reach US$300 billion by 2030.
• Split by segment (2024): BioIndustrial about 47%, BioPharma about 35%, BioResearch about 9%, BioAgri about 8%.
• Leading states: Maharashtra (about US$35.45 billion) and Karnataka (about US$32.4 billion).

Commonly confused concepts

• Bioeconomy vs biotechnology: Biotechnology is the science and tools (like gene editing or fermentation). The bioeconomy is the economic activity (products, sales, jobs) that comes from using those tools and biological resources.
• Bioeconomy vs circular economy vs green economy: A circular economy means reusing and recycling materials so little is wasted. A green economy is any economy that grows while cutting pollution. A bioeconomy can be both, but only if its raw materials are used sustainably.
• BioE3 vs Bio-RIDE vs BIRAC: BioE3 is the policy (the plan and direction). Bio-RIDE is a funding scheme that pays for research, start-ups and biomanufacturing. BIRAC is the agency (under DBT) that runs many of these industry-facing programmes.
• Biofoundry vs biomanufacturing hub: A biofoundry is for designing and testing engineered organisms (lab stage). A biomanufacturing hub is for scaling up production (pilot and pre-commercial stage).

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• The "valley of death": Many bio-innovations work in the lab but fail before reaching the market because scale-up is costly and buyers are unsure. Shared hubs aim to fix this, but they need steady funding.
• Weak demand: Bio-based products often cost more than petroleum-based ones at first. Experts suggest public procurement rules (government buying bio-based products) and long-term purchase agreements to create a market.
• Regulation: Approvals for new products, such as gene-edited crops or fermentation-made proteins, can be slow or unclear.
• Feedstock security: Biomanufacturing needs a reliable supply of raw materials such as sugar or farm waste, which can compete with food and fodder.
• Tracking results: Analysts have asked for a public dashboard showing hub-wise investment, start-ups supported and jobs created.
• Way forward: Bundling supply support (labs, hubs, funding) with demand creation (procurement, standards, certification), as the WEF report also recommends, and building skilled workers for the sector.

Concepts to Know

• Biomanufacturing: Making products at large scale using living cells or their parts, for example using bacteria to produce insulin or enzymes.
• Biopolymer: A plastic-like material made from biological sources, which may be biodegradable.
• Enzyme: A natural protein that speeds up a chemical reaction. Enzymes are used in detergents, food processing and textiles.
• Fermentation: A process in which microbes like yeast or bacteria convert sugars into other products. It is how curd and bread are made, and also how many modern bio-products are made.
• Pilot scale: A medium-sized trial production, between a lab experiment and a full factory.
• Feedstock: The raw material fed into a production process, such as sugarcane juice or crop waste.