Department of Biotechnology, Government of India

Funds Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, the national agency advancing biotechnology innovation and enterprise.

The Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, is the country's principal federal biotechnology funder under the Ministry of Science and Technology. It backs research, innovation, and entrepreneurship across healthcare, agriculture, biomanufacturing, marine science, and clean energy. Its current policy frame runs through Bio-RIDE, and its industry-facing work is delivered with BIRAC, its wholly owned public-sector enterprise.

DBT runs a split delivery model. Academic grants come through its own eProMIS portal, while translational and industry-facing schemes move through BIRAC. The funded lines in this record reach from the DBT-BIRAC Bio-AI for BioE3 biomanufacturing hubs and Bio-AI Hubs to the Next-Generation Vaccines, Diagnostics and Therapeutics programme for livestock and aquaculture, the Wellcome India Alliance career programme, BTIS-Network, Biotech KISAN, Emerging Frontiers in Biotechnology, Research Associateship, and Global Innovations. Award sizes range from small fellowships to large hub-scale awards, with the Bio-AI call reaching INR 250 million and the BioE3 hub line also capped at INR 250 million.

DBT's strategy is explicit about building human capital, research infrastructure, translation, entrepreneurship, and global partnerships. The department is strongest where a proposal can connect basic biology to a practical product, a platform, or a capacity-building network, especially in areas such as health, agriculture, and biomanufacturing. That makes it a policy-led funder rather than a general science grantmaker.