The concept of Health & Biotech in India represents the convergence of national healthcare policy and the high-growth biotechnology sector, treated as a sunrise sector of the economy. The institutional foundation for biotechnology is the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), an institution established in February 1986 under the Ministry of Science and Technology, following the constitution of the National Biotechnology Board (NBTB) in 1982 to strengthen indigenous capabilities in biosciences. The health component is guided by the National Health Policy (NHP), a policy/scheme, with the latest iteration being the NHP 2017, which replaced the policy of 2002.
The DBT promotes R&D and commercialization, with a key mechanism being the Biotechnology Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (Bio-RIDE) scheme, approved in 2024 with an allocation of ₹9,197 crore for 2021-22 to 2025-26, focusing on biomanufacturing and biofoundries. The sector connects to the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), which supports bio-incubators, and the Genome India Project, which aims to sequence 10,000 Indian genomes.
The NHP 2017 aims for the highest possible level of health for all through a preventive and promotive orientation, with a key objective to increase government health expenditure to 2.5% of GDP by 2025. It sets quantitative goals, such as reducing the Under Five Mortality Rate to 23 by 2025. The policy connects to major government schemes like Ayushman Bharat and the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
The sector has recently changed with the approval of the Bio-RIDE scheme in 2024, which merged two existing DBT schemes, and the government's vision to grow the bioeconomy to US$300 billion by 2030.