Biotechnology Ignition Grant Scheme

The “Biotechnology Ignition Grant Scheme (BIG)” is a flagship scheme of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), (a not-for-profit Section 8, Schedule B, Public Sector Enterprise, set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India), which recognizes and invests in innovative ideas in the biotech sector. The ideas should have clear potential to translate into commercial products/technologies. BIG supports individual entrepreneurs/ start-ups from ideation to Proof of Concept (PoC). > Purpose of the BIG scheme: - Supports ideation to Proof of Concept - Nurtures entrepreneurship to enable translation of ideas into commercially viable products/ technologies to address unmet need - Enables Biotech Startup Ecosystem in the country to become globally competitive > Types of projects supported: BIG scheme supports innovation under Healthcare, Lifesciences, Diagnostics, Medical Devices, Drugs, Vaccines, Drug Formulations and delivery systems, Industrial Biotechnology, Agriculture, Secondary agriculture, Waste Management, Sanitation, Clean Energy, and related areas. The project proposals can be submitted in any of the following seven categories: - Devices & Diagnostics - Drugs including drug delivery - Industrial Biotechnology including Secondary Agriculture - Agriculture - Biosimilars & Stem Cells - Vaccines - Bioinformatics & facilities BIRAC encourages proposals involving integration of Biotech with applied sciences that may include Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Sensors, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics, and related disciplines to potentially facilitate transforming healthcare, life sciences, agriculture, secondary agriculture, and other bio-based industry/ markets. > Types of projects not supported: - Basic/exploratory research projects - Projects having a low element of novelty - Projects involving systematic clinical trials, field trials or late-stage validation/certification of the technology. Note: BIG grant is not a research fellowship and cannot be used to support PhD or any other academic research. > Project Duration: The funding is provided for a period of up to 18 months. The project is implemented in a milestone-based manner.