Will lead in biomanufacturing on abundant bioresources: Minister Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday that bio-manufacturing will shape the future of global economy, and India is well-positioned to lead this revolution due to its abundant bio-resources.

"India has an opportunity to lead the next big revolution which will be driven by bio-manufacturing. While the west led the IT revolution, India, with its immense and largely untapped bio-resources, is ready to take the lead," Singh said.

He said that bio-manufacturing offers solutions to global challenges like climate change, resource depletion, waste generation, and pollution. It can help meet the growing demand for food and fuel while also creating new jobs.

Singh said that India currently imports most of its crude oil, but bio-manufacturing, using biomass and carbon dioxide, can make the country more self-reliant in fuel production. Also, it could support the dairy industry through non-dairy milk alternatives, promoting resource sustainability.

Last week, the Union Cabinet approved the BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) Policy for Fostering High Performance Biomanufacturing'.

This policy seeks to boost research, technology development, and commercialisation by setting up bio-manufacturing and bio-AI hubs and biofoundries, and enable the production of several things from medicine to materials and promote the use of advanced biotechnological processes in agriculture and manufacturing.