Budget 2024 Revolutionising Industry: The Future Of Bio-Manufacturing And Bio-Foundry Schemes

During the Interim Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a progressive initiative – Bio-manufacturing and Bio-foundry. It covers the adoption of green alternative materials including biodegradable polymers, bio-plastics, bio-pharmaceuticals, and bio-agri-inputs. 

This program has been designed to enhance the production of renewable energy and sustainable next-generation products. With the help of the funds provided for such purposes, the country will be able to shape a manufacturing paradigm for biodegradable solutions.

What Is India Aiming For?

At the heart of this plan is the establishment of innovative bio-foundries. Biofoundries will provide the infrastructure, resources and expertise needed to rapidly transform scientific research into market-ready solutions. It will address some of the most pressing issues in agriculture, healthcare, energy use and waste management.

 In addition, this program emphasises sustainability throughout the bioproduction process. With the circular economy approach, the nation seeks to minimise waste while increasing the use of renewable resources to reduce the environmental impact of industrial activities. 

The promotion of biodegradable products with a lower carbon footprint should significantly support efforts to mitigate climate change.

What Is Bio-Manufacturing?

Biomanufacturing means using living systems such as microorganisms or cell cultures to generate products like biological substances and chemicals that are intended for anything ranging from medicines to alternative fuels.

This method is generally regarded as more sustainable and ecological because it can greatly reduce waste (plants are used instead of petroleum for instance) as well as energy consumption. 

What Is Bio-Foundry?

Bio-foundry is a facility or platform that automates the synthetic biology workflow including design, construction and testing of genetic material. 

It helps in fast Prototyping and controlled scaling Biological systems and they employ ROSTS robotic systems and high throughput screening and also employ sophisticated software for modelling. It aids in the fast development of new biological product sythases, enzymes, biochemicals and vaccines.

Significance Of Bio­ Manufacturing And Bio­foundry In India

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that once the government’s measures are implemented, bioenergy will produce 130 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of usable energy by 2040, which is about 15 per cent of India’s energy consumption at that time. 

The biomass available in India currently stands at 775 million metric tons (MMT)/year with a biomass surplus of 230 MMT per year.  There are 300 biomass pellet manufacturers and more than 1,030 briquette manufacturers in different states supplying their products to power plants as well as industries.

Today India’s economy is booming already. It is expected that by 2025 the bioeconomy will rise to 100 billion dollars and by 2030 the market value will over reach 300 billion dollars. 

The infrastructure existing nowadays, the expertise in pharmaceutical manufacturing, manpower available make India the best fit as the leading manufacturing hub.

Moreover, bio-manufacturing emphasises the use of renewable materials while helping to promote sustainable and eco-friendly operations.

Challenges For This Scheme

• India has technological hurdles in the bio-manufacturing field. 

• The absence of guidelines for regulatory compliance for research using synthetic biology.

• Public engagement and ethical considerations are essential to forming regulations and policies.

• Additionally, there are concerns about China’s dominance in the field.

Conclusion

India's incorporation of Biofoundry offers immense promise for driving economic growth and stimulating innovation. addressing global challenges and strengthening capacity-building efforts. By making strategic investments, we will be addressing global challenges and strengthening our Bio Manufacturing industry. 

To read about this scheme in more detail, you can [read more here](https://dbtindia.gov.in/sites/default/files/uploadfiles/Brief on Biomanufacturing program.pdf).