Lok Sabha Question No. 5669 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-06
Subject: Theme Based Institutions
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Asaduddin Owaisi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5669

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06/04/2022

## Theme Based Institutions

5669. SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

िवǒान और ŮौȨोिगकी मंũी

be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  department  of  Biotechnology  has  established  15  theme  based autonomous institutions across the country to develop all aspects of biotechnology and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether  the  Government  has  started  other  schemes  to  attract  Indian  origin scientists abroad to return home;

(c) if so, the reverse brain drain seen by the Government so far; and

- (d) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to develop all aspects of biotechnology in the country with the help of private sector?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES

(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

ͪव£ान और Ĥौɮयोͬगकȧ तथा पृØ  वी ͪव£ान क े  राÏ य मंğी (è वतंğ Ĥभार) (डॉ. िजतेÛ ġ ͧसंह)

(a) Yes.  The  Department  of  Biotechnology,  Ministry  of  Science  and  Technology, Government of India, has established 15 theme based autonomous institutions. The names of the institutions are as follows:

1. National Institute for Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi
2. National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi
3. Regional Center of Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad, Haryana
4. Translational  Health  Science  and  Technology  Institute  (THSTI),  Faridabad, Haryana
5. National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, Maharastra
6. National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Manesar, Haryana
7. Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderbad, Telangana
8. Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
9. Institute of  Bioresources  and  Sustainable  Development  (IBSD),  Imphal, Manipur
10. Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
11. Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), Bangaluru, Karnataka
12. National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani, West Bengal
13. National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Mohali, Punjab
14. National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), Hyderbad, Telangana
15. Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Mohali, Punjab

The details of the individual institutions is at the Annexure-I

- (b)  &  (c) Yes.  The  Ministry  of  Science  &  Technology,  Government  of  India  has started following schemesto attract Indian origin scientists abroad to return home:

## Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship

Department of Biotechnology startedRamalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship in 200607 to  attract  high-quality  Indian  scientists  working  abroad  to  pursue  their  research interests  in  life  sciences,  biotechnology  and  other  related  areas  by  providing  them with an attractive avenue to pursue their R&D interests in Indian institutions. The aim of the scheme is to create a pool of highly skilled and trained researchers working on cutting  edge  technologies  in  Indian  institutions,  and  make  them  available  for  the absorption  in  the  Indian  academic  and  scientific  organisations.  Currently  DBT provides  75  fellowships  /  year,  and  total  547  fellows  have  been  supported  by  the Department under this program since inception.

## Biomedical Research Career Programme (BRCP)

This scheme was initiated by Department of Biotechnology and provides opportunity to  early,  intermediate  and  senior  level  researchers  to  establish  their  research  & academic career in biomedical or clinical &public health in India. These fellowships are open to all eligible researchers from abroad who wish to relocate to India as well as to researchers in India. Total 141 fellows have been supported under the BRCP since the inception of the programme.  More than 90% of the supported fellows have continued to stay back in India after completion of fellowships by taking up positions in Research, Academia and Industry.

## Ramanujan Fellowship

Ramanujan  Fellowship  of  Science  and  Engineering  Research  Board  (SERB)  an autonomous  body  under  Department  of  Science  and  Technology,  Government  of India,  aims  to  attract  Indian  scientists  and  engineers  working  abroad  to  take  up scientific research positions in India. The scheme supports research work in all areas of  Science and Technology. A total of 455 fellows have been supported under this program since inception.

In  addition  to  above,  the  other  schemes  to  retain  the  trained  manpower  in  the country include the SERB-National Post-Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF), which aims to identify motivated young researchers and provide them support for doing research in frontier areas of science and engineering.Also, the Start-up Research Grant (SRG) scheme  of  SERB,  MK  Bhan-Young  Research  Fellowship  Program  and  Research Associate  programs  of  DBT  aims  to  assist  researchers  to  initiate  their    career  in Indian institutions. (d) Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a  Public Sector Undertaking  (PSU)of  the  Department  of  Biotechnology,  through  its  Public  Private Partnership  (PPP)  programssupport  development  of  all  aspects  biotechnology including  innovation  ecosystem..The  major  thematic  areas  supported  by  BIRAC under  PPP  program  include  Devices  and  Diagnostics,  Drugs  &  Drug  Delivery, Biopharmaceuticals, Regenerative Medicine, Stem cells, Vaccines, & Clinical trials, Energy, Environment and Secondary Agriculture, Agriculture, andVeterinary Sciences and Aquaculture. develop all aspects of biotechnology including funding support, incubation and preincubation support, networks &facilitation, intellectual property

The  BIRAC  supports  private  as  well  as  public  institutions  for  various  activities  to &regulatory facilitation, validation and pilot testing at clinical sites, workshops, technical trainings, and investor connects, implementation of national missions-Make-in-India (MII) and Startup India for biotech sectors.

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## 1. National Institute for Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi

The NIPGRis engaged in the development of material, knowledge and technologies in  the  areas  of  functional,  structural,  evolutionary  and  applied  genomics  of  plants, including  crop  plants.The  Institute  is  mandated  to  undertake,  promote  and  coordinate  research,  train  workers  and  to  serve  as  information  resource  in  identified aspects of plant genomics.

## 2. National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi

The promotion of research in basic and applied immunology forms a central mandate of the NII.The instituteaims to provide immunological solutions to the many diseases that  are  primarily  prevalent  in  India  by  focussing  its  researchon  Inflammation  and Immunology, Pathogen  Biology,  Cancer  Biology,  Aging  and  Metabolic  Diseases, Structural and Computational Biology, etc.

## 3. Regional Center of Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad, Haryana

The RCB is an Institution  ofNational Importance established  by the Department of Biotechnology, under the aegis of UNESCO with a mandate to impart education and training, and conduct research in the frontier areas of biotechnology.

## 4.  Translational  Health  Science  and  Technology  Institute  (THSTI),  Faridabad, Haryana

The  THSTI  is  engaged  in  cutting  edge  research  in  many  areas  of  public  health importance which include mother & child health, tuberculosis, dengue, SARS CoV-2, autoimmune diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, pregnancy and its outcomes, coordination / monitoring/ supervising clinical trials.

## 5. National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, Maharastra

The NCCS research is mainly focussed in the area of cancer biology, immunology, structural  biology,  bioinformatics  and  omics,  microbiology  and  infectious  disease, regenerative medicine and neuroscience. The institute also has facility of cryopreservation  and  distribution  of  quality  cell  cultures/lines  and  cell  repository which  has  provided  over  55000  cell  cultures  to  over  550  academic  and  research institutions across India.

## 6. National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Manesar, Haryana

The mandate of NBRC is to pursue research to understand brain function in health and  disease,  generate  trained human  resources  to  carry  out  interdisciplinary research  in  neuroscience,  and  promote  neuroscience  in  India  through  networking among  institutions  across  the  country.  NBRC  is  a  Deemed  to  be  University  and conducts  M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs besides other post-graduate and post-doctoral training programs to generate trained human resources.

## 7. Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderbad, Telangana

The mission of the CDFD is to carry out scientific research, services and training; to achieve global excellence in fundamental and applied research; and simultaneously endeavour to transfer the benefits of modern biology to every section of society. The main objectives of CDFD are to provide DNA fingerprinting services to the judiciary and to law enforcing agencies, to establish DNA diagnostics methods for detecting genetic  disorders,  to  use  DNA  fingerprinting  techniques  for  authentication  of  plant species (e.g. basmati rice), and to undertake basic, applied and developmental R&D work.

## 8. Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneshwar, Odisha

The institute carries out research in the four major fields related to human health i.e. cancer biology, infectious disease biology,  genetic  and  autoimmune diseases, and plant and microbial biotechnology.

## 9.  Institute  of  Bioresources  and  Sustainable  Development  (IBSD),  Imphal, Manipur

The institute  focuses  its  research  and  development  activities  in  the  areas  of  plant resources,  microorganisms,  traditional  foods,  and  animal  resources  for  various application  in  phytopharma  drug  development,  nutraceuticals  in  the  North  East region of India.In addition to its headquarter at Imphal, Manipur, IBSD has regional centre at  Gangtok,  Sikkim  and  two  nodes  at  Aizawl,  Mizoram  and  Shilong, Meghalaya for outreach activities.

## 10.  Rajiv  Gandhi  Centre  for  Biotechnology  (RGCB),  Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

The  RGCB  has  mandate  of  studying  disease  biology  and  carry  out  basic  to translational research. The institute has proven track record in the areas of vaccine trails,  drug trials, and biomarker applications in disease or diagnostic development. The primary focus of the institute is cancer research by drug discovery and clinical studies on common cancers of India including oral cancer, cervical, colon and breast cancers.

## 11.  Institute  for  Stem  Cell  Science  and  Regenerative  Medicine  (inStem), Bangaluru, Karnataka

inStem is India's first stem cell institute committed to accelerating advances in stem cell biology & regeneration to understanding various diseases. The institute'sresearch  and  development  activities  are  mainly  focused  on  building  core strengths in area of stem cell. The institute also has developed an elaborate 'Gene therapy  program'  at  Center  for  Stem  Cell  Research  (CSCR),  located  at  CMC, Vellore.

## 12. National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani, West Bengal

The  NIBMG  is  explicitly  devoted  to  research,  training,  translation  &  service,  and capacity-building in  Biomedical Genomics. The research focus of the institute is to understand the molecular basis of disease using genomics and integrative biology, as well as functionalization of genomic leads.

## 13. National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Mohali, Punjab

This  institute  aims  to  foster  the  transformation  of  agri-food  sector  in  India  and  to provide food and nutritional security for all through agri-food biotechnology research and  innovation.  It  works  towards  improving  nutritional  quality  and  availability  of affordable food products through sustainable and novel solutions.

## 14. National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), Hyderbad, Telangana

The NIAB was established with the mandate of 'Animal health for human welfare'. The  major  objectives  of  the  institute  are  to  undertake  basic  and  applied  research towards technology and product development, provide incubation facilities for startup  companies,  develop  human  resource  and  promote  Intellectual  Property  (IP) development,  collaborative  research  with  both  National  &  International  partners, contribute to the national policy formulation for animal Biotechnology/

## 15. Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Mohali, Punjab

The CIAB is the  unique institute  in  the  country  which  works  mainly  on  Secondary Agriculture  and  development  of  value  added  commercial  products  from  different types of  bio-resources.  It  has  the  mandate  on  R&D  innovations,  technology development and transfer to entrepreneurs.

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