Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG)

What is the Biotechnology Ignition Grant?

Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) is the early-stage funding scheme of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public sector enterprise set up by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology. According to BIRAC, BIG is its flagship programme for young startups, providing up to Rs 50 lakh as grant-in-aid for 18 months to translate an innovative idea into proof of concept.

Readers should be clear about what BIG is not. BIG is not a citizen benefit scheme. There is no beneficiary list, no personal entitlement and no payment to an individual for personal use. It is competitive research and translation funding awarded to an entity, a startup, an LLP or an incubatee, against a technical proposal, and disbursed against milestones.

BIRAC states the purpose as fostering "generation of ideas with commercialisation potential" and encouraging researchers to "take technology closer to market through a start up".

Key objectives

• Fund the gap between a laboratory idea and a demonstrable proof of concept, where conventional investors will not commit.
• Convert publicly funded research talent into biotechnology entrepreneurs.
• Build a pipeline of investible biotech startups through structured mentoring.

Main features

• Up to Rs 50 lakh grant-in-aid per project.
• Project duration of up to 18 months.
• Grant, not equity or debt, BIRAC takes no shareholding.
• Calls announced twice a year, on 1 January and 1 July, open for about 45 days.
• Online submission only, through the BIRAC portal.
• Mentoring and business development support through eight BIG Partners and eleven Associate Partners.

Who is eligible for the Biotechnology Ignition Grant?

You can apply if:

• You are a start-up company or LLP registered in India under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 or 2013, or the LLP Act, and the entity is not more than three years old from the date the BIG call was launched.
• At least 51% of the capital of the company or LLP is beneficially owned by resident Indian citizens, or by Indian companies ultimately owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens.
• The entity has its own functional in-house R&D facility adequate to execute the project: or, if it does not, it is incubated at a recognised incubator.
• You are a researcher, PhD, medical degree holder or biomedical engineering graduate from academia or a start-up, applying as an incubatee with an idea at a nascent or planning stage.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual seeking a personal grant, stipend or scholarship. BIG funds a project executed by an entity or an incubatee, not personal income.
• Your company is more than three years old on the date the call was launched.
• Your entity is majority foreign-owned. The 51% resident Indian beneficial ownership test is not met.
• You have neither an in-house R&D laboratory nor an incubation arrangement. BIRAC's guidelines require one or the other; an idea with no laboratory access cannot be executed.
• You submit offline. Only online submission is allowed under the BIG scheme.

What documents are required for a BIG application?

How to apply for the Biotechnology Ignition Grant

BIG runs on a call-for-proposals cycle, not a rolling application window. Nothing is submitted outside an open call.

1. Check the open call on the BIRAC Call for Proposals page at birac.nic.in/cfp.php. Calls are announced on 1 January and 1 July each year and remain open for roughly 45 days.
2. Register on www.birac.nic.in as a "BIG User". Registration is open round the clock, so complete it before the call closes rather than during the final week.
3. Confirm your eligibility route; registered company or LLP under three years old with an in-house R&D facility, or an incubatee at a recognised incubator.
4. Prepare the technical and commercial proposal covering the scientific idea, the proof-of-concept milestones for 18 months, the team, the intellectual property position and the commercialisation path.
5. Prepare the milestone-linked budget within the Rs 50 lakh ceiling.
6. Upload the proposal and supporting documents on the BIRAC portal and submit before the closing date.
7. Attend the evaluation stages — proposals are screened, technically evaluated by expert committees, and shortlisted applicants are called for presentation before award.
8. Sign the grant agreement with BIRAC if selected, after which funds are released against agreed milestones.

How much does BIG fund and how is money released?

The ceiling is Rs 50 lakh per project for a period of up to 18 months. The award is grant-in-aid: BIRAC does not take equity and the grant is not a loan, so there is no repayment schedule and no dilution of the founder's shareholding.

Money is released in instalments linked to milestones set out in the grant agreement, not as a lump sum at the start. Each release depends on satisfactory technical progress and submission of utilisation certificates, and expenditure is subject to audit. Grantees should plan cash flow on that basis.

What do BIG Partners do?

BIRAC delivers BIG through a partner network that handles mentoring and hand-holding alongside the funding. BIRAC lists eight BIG Partners:

• C-CAMP, Bengaluru
• KIIT-TBI, Bhubaneswar
• IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad
• Venture Center, Pune
• FITT-IIT Delhi
• SIIC, IIT Kanpur
• NAARM, Hyderabad
• SINE, IIT Bombay

Eleven Associate Partners across other institutions extend the network further. Partners provide technical mentoring, business development support and, in many cases, the laboratory infrastructure an incubatee applicant needs to satisfy the R&D facility condition.

Which schemes should you look at if BIG does not fit?

• Company older than three years: consider BIRAC's BIPP (Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme), which supports more mature entities on high-risk, future technologies.
• Need incubation space rather than a grant; BioNEST supports bio-incubators that host early-stage biotech ventures.
• Non-biotech startup idea. The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, run by DPIIT, is sector-agnostic and works through recognised incubators.

Common reasons BIG proposals are rejected

• Entity ineligible, company older than three years at the date of the call, or failing the 51% resident Indian ownership test.
• No laboratory access: neither an adequate in-house R&D facility nor an incubation arrangement.
• Idea not at proof-of-concept stage, either too early to define milestones, or already commercialised and therefore outside BIG's purpose.
• Weak commercialisation case, where the science is sound but no market path is articulated.
• Submission after the call closed, or attempted offline submission.

Help and contact

• BIRAC: +91-11-29878000
• Email: birac.dbt@nic.in
• Address: 5th Floor, NSIC Business Park, NSIC Bhawan, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi 110020
• Call for proposals and proposal submission guide: birac.nic.in/cfp.php and birac.nic.in/howtoSubmitProposal.php

There is no fee to submit a BIG proposal. BIRAC does not appoint agents or consultants to secure grants, and no payment to any intermediary improves a proposal's chances.