BRIC Third Foundation Day: India-UK Biomanufacturing LoI

The Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC) marked its third Foundation Day on 10 November 2026 at BRIC-National Institute of Immunology. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh said India could lead the next industrial revolution, which he expected to be driven by biotechnology, artificial intelligence and genomics, and asked industry to take a bigger part in the sector.

An India-UK agreement

A Letter of Intent was signed between BRIC and the United Kingdom’s Centre for Process Innovation to work together on biomanufacturing and on building biofoundries. At the same event the Wellcome Trust announced a grant of up to Rs 21.7 crore for a five-year immersion training programme covering more than 250 iBRIC+ PhD scholars.

How the sector has grown

The minister described BRIC as a joint family in which institutions share resources while keeping their own identity and autonomy, an arrangement he said had cut procedural delays and had since been copied by other departments. He named biofoundry hubs at Mohali, Hyderabad, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram, and said the partnership with the British centre would carry that work forward.

People, training and awards

• The Genomics Centre of Excellence has drawn interest from medical institutions, including AIIMS, and could support a shift to precision medicine.
• The i3C PhD programme, which places scholars in health and agriculture research, has benefited nearly 200 students.
• The iBRIC+ Spotlight Scientist of the Year-2026 awards went to Dr Sunil Laxman of BRIC-inStem, Dr Rashna Bhandari of BRIC-CDFD and Prof Bhabatosh Das of BRIC-THSTI.
• Winners of the Festival of Sports were also felicitated at the function.

Dr Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology and Director General of BRIC, said the council’s aim is to knit 13 leading biotechnology institutions spread over 11 cities into a decentralised national network run by a lean secretariat, so that laboratory work reaches the market. Dr Jitendra Singh also pointed to the Research, Development and Innovation Fund, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation and BIRAC as parts of the wider research landscape, and recalled his proposal for a mentorship programme to bring more girls into science.