DBT BIRAC Joint Call for Proposals on Bio-AI for establishing Mulankur hubs under BioE3 Policy for Biomanufacturing

Inter-disciplinary teams from Government Organizations, Universities, Academic Institutions, National Laboratories, DSIR-recognized Non-Profits, startups, and industries. PI must have ≥4 years of remaining employment. Companies require ≥51% Indian shareholding. Not for individual investigator-driven research.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and BIRAC have launched a joint Bio-AI call under the BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) Policy, supported through the Bio-RIDE scheme, to establish Mulankur hubs for high-performance biomanufacturing.

Scope of the Call

The call invites problem statements and research solutions from multi-disciplinary teams with expertise across synthetic biology, AI/ML, and computation in the following thematic areas:

• Biomolecular Design: Engineering novel proteins, enzymes, and RNA-based molecules; next-generation antibodies; enzyme inhibitors, RNA aptamers, de novo enzyme designs; bio-nanomachines and catalytic biomolecules.
• Sustainable Agriculture: Drought-resistant cereal crop engineering; AI-powered non-invasive sensing (drone imaging, infrared spectroscopy) for early disease detection; predictive modeling of dairy cattle milk production and health using AI and genomics.
• Synthetic Biology: AI-optimized metabolic pathways for biofuels and biomaterials; enzyme function prediction; strain engineering for microbial factories; engineered organisms as environmental biosensors.
• Ayurveda: AI-driven Ayurvedic pharmacogenomics; herb-drug interaction analysis; standardization and authentication of Ayurvedic formulations; AI-assisted plant-based drug discovery; gut microbiome modulation through Ayurveda.
• Genome Diagnostics: AI risk prediction models for diabetes, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders; cancer biomarkers; single-cell and spatial genomics; genetic risk stratification for neurodegenerative disorders.

Grant Guidelines

• Duration: up to 2 years.
• Maximum grant: Rs 25 crore per proposal, based on merit and actual requirements.
• Not for investigator-driven independent research; only inter-disciplinary science teams led by a coordinator are eligible.
• Programmatic support is for AI-guided closed-loop platforms integrating predictions, experiments, and analyses.
• Inter-institutional and inter-disciplinary teams are encouraged in a hub-and-spoke model.
• Successful applicants must already possess the computational infrastructure to host AI tools and drive big-data analytics; AI infrastructure itself will not be funded under this call.
• Teams are expected to advance indigenous Large Language Models (LLMs) using neural network and 'omics' data.
• Proposals dwelling largely on computational programs or AI/ML methods without significant biotech research questions will not be considered.
• IP from academic-only projects will follow DBT IP Guidelines 2023; BIRAC will follow its own IP guidelines.

Funding Modalities

• Projects with academic partners only: funded by DBT.
• Projects involving academia–industry or industry-only: funded by BIRAC.

Eligibility

Researchers in Government Organizations, Universities, Academic Institutions, National Laboratories, DSIR-recognized Non-Profit Organizations, startups, and industries. Principal Investigators must have at least 4 years of remaining employment at the time of submission. Companies/startups require minimum 51% Indian shareholding. Industry eligibility follows the 'Implementation Plan for the Biomanufacturing and Biofoundry Initiative' (Annexure I).

Submission

• Academia/Research Institutions/National Laboratories: via DBT e-ProMIS portal (www.dbtepromis.nic.in), forwarded by the executive head.
• Industry and Industry-Academia/DSIR-recognized Non-Profit/Startup collaborations: via BIRAC website (www.birac.nic.in), forwarded by the executive head of the Company/LLP/Institution.

Last date for submission: 30th June 2026. Proposals will be evaluated periodically in a rolling manner.

Contact

• Dr. Kalaivani Ganesan, Scientist F, DBT — [email protected]; [email protected]
• Mr. Amit Katiyar, Chief Manager IP & TM, BIRAC — [email protected]
• Dr. Alka Kaushal, Associate Consultant, BIRAC — [email protected]
• e-ProMIS technical support: [email protected], Tel: 011-24365136