India's Bioeconomy Expanding: Driven by Ethanol, Investment, and Innovation

India's Bioeconomy Expanding: Driven by Ethanol, Investment, and Innovation.webp

New Delhi, March 20 India's bioeconomy valuation surged from USD 166 billion in 2024 to USD 195 billion in 2025, reflecting strong growth across multiple biotechnology-driven industries.

The BioEconomy is no longer defined solely by BioPharmaceutical or BioIndustrial. It now encompasses a broader industrial ecosystem where biofuels, enzyme solutions, digital biology platforms, contract research, biologics manufacturing, and agricultural biological inputs collectively contribute to national economic output.

The report, 'India Bioeconomy Report 2026', was published by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public sector undertaking (PSU) that aims to strengthen and empower the emerging biotech enterprise.

The expansion in the bioeconomy valuation has been driven by four factors: 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol, which reduced petrol imports; the consumption of GLP-1 class drugs; the opening of new Global Capability Centers (GCCs), which employ over 300,000 Indian professionals; and the use of biosolutions using enzymes and microbes in various industrial sectors.

"These four emerging trends and new product areas, along with the other traditional biotechnology segments, have led to India's BioEconomy adding USD 29.6 billion in 2025. This 18 pc growth is the highest witnessed in the last few years," said the report.

BIRAC has played a crucial role in the expansion of the bioeconomy by seeding innovations in biopharma, med-tech, agri-biotech, health-tech, industrial biotech, and clean-tech through programmes spanning grant funding, equity support, mentoring, and partnerships.

"In just 14 years, BIRAC has helped transform Indian biotechnology from a small, fragmented sector into a vibrant innovation-driven ecosystem," said Rajesh S Gokhale, secretary of the Department of Biotechnology.

Gokhale also noted that by catalysing Rs 7,000 crore in total investment across lakhs of startups, entrepreneurs, and companies, BIRAC supported the development of more than 900 products and over 35,000 high-skilled jobs.

Jitendra Kumar, managing director of BIRAC, said in a statement, "Our ambition is bold: to grow India's bioeconomy to USD 300 billion by 2030 and USD 1 trillion by 2047. With strong foundations in vaccines, biopharma, agribiotech, bioindustrial manufacturing, and clean energy, India is steadily emerging as a top global biotech innovation hub.”
 
Tags Tags
agri-biotech bioeconomy biopharma biopharmaceuticals biosolutions biotech industry biotechnology birac clean technology ethanol blending global capability centers glp-1 drugs india industrial biotechnology investment in startups
Back
Top