What is bioeconomy and how it grew from $10b to $165b in just a decade

The number of businesses engaged in the bioeconomy has surged by nearly 90 per cent in just three years, increasing from 5,365 in 2021 to 10,075 in 2024

India’s bioeconomy has experienced an extraordinary 16-fold expansion over the past decade, growing from $10 billion in 2014 to a substantial $165.7 billion in 2024, according to the India Bioeconomy Report 2025 (IBER 2025).

 

The newly released government report estimates that India’s bioeconomy will exceed $165 billion in 2024, making up more than 4.2 per cent of the country’s GDP. The report, published by the Department of Biotechnology, highlighted the sector’s potential to expand further, projecting a rise to approximately $300 billion by 2030 and an ambitious $1 trillion by 2047.

 

Surging business and economic opportunities 

The number of businesses engaged in the bioeconomy has surged by nearly 90 per cent in just three years, from 5,365 in 2021 to 10,075 in 2024. This growth trend is expected to continue, with the number of such companies projected to double by 2030, by which time they could collectively employ close to 35 million individuals.

   

The industrial sector contributed nearly half of the bioeconomy’s total value (around $78 billion), primarily driven by the production and application of biofuels and bioplastics. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry accounted for roughly 35 per cent of the overall valuation, with vaccines playing a major role.

 

However, the fastest-growing segment in 2024 was research and IT, which encompasses fields such as biotech software development, clinical trials, and bioinformatics — an area crucial for advancing drug research.

 

What is bioeconomy? 

Bioeconomy is an umbrella term and refers to the utilisation of biological resources — such as plants, animals, and microorganisms — alongside natural biological processes to manufacture goods and services. While the integration of biological resources into healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture is well established, their applications are expanding into numerous other sectors. Bio-based resources like plants and microorganisms offer renewable, cost-effective, and locally available alternatives, while natural biological processes tend to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly, the report noted.

 

What is driving the surge in bioeconomy? 

One notable example of this shift is the increasing reliance on ethanol, which is produced through the fermentation of crops like sugarcane and corn using microorganisms. Ethanol is gaining traction as a biological substitute for fossil fuel-derived energy sources. Advances in modern biology are also facilitating the development of sustainable alternatives for products such as textiles, plastics, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, and various chemicals.

 

Even in traditional domains like healthcare and agriculture, there is a push for more extensive use of biotechnology, which involves modifying biological resources and processes to create desired applications. The development of biomedicines — derived from biological sources rather than chemical compounds — and synthetic biology, which involves engineering microorganisms with specific traits, are both areas where biotechnology is playing an increasingly pivotal role.

 

Untapped potential of bioeconomy 

Despite its promising trajectory, the bioeconomy remains in its early stages, with significant untapped potential. As the report indicates, rapid growth is already underway. However, much of the sector’s value generation is concentrated in a few states. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh collectively account for more than two-thirds of India’s bioeconomy output, whereas the eastern and northeastern regions contribute less than 6 per cent of the total.

 

While India’s bioeconomy accounts for 4.2 per cent of GDP — comparable to that of the US and China — some European countries, such as Spain and Italy, derive over 20 per cent of their GDP from bioeconomic activities.

 

The report highlighted the need for enhanced innovation, incentives to scale up bio-based solutions, and the resolution of policy and infrastructure-related obstacles. Additionally, addressing regional disparities in bioeconomic activity will be crucial to ensuring long-term expansion.