Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP)

What is BIPP?

The Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP) is an advanced technology scheme run by BIRAC. The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, a not-for-profit Section 8 public sector enterprise set up by the Department of Biotechnology in 2012. BIPP was approved by the Government of India in November 2008 as a public-private partnership scheme for promoting innovation research in the biotech sector, and was launched in January 2009.

According to the BIPP scheme guidelines, BIPP provides public support on a cost-sharing basis for path-breaking research in frontier, futuristic technology areas with major economic potential, and for the development of technologies in recognised national priority areas; agriculture, health, bioenergy and green manufacturing.

BIPP is not a citizen benefit scheme. BIPP funds companies and LLPs, not individuals.

Key features

• BIPP supports only high-risk, transformational technology or process development. Incremental development is not funded.
• A project submitted under BIPP must end at Technology Readiness Level 7 or above.
• The project must necessarily generate novel intellectual property, and the IP rights belong to the industry partner.
• Support is grant-in-aid only, with milestone-based disbursement.
• There is no cap on funding, but costs must be commensurate with the activities supported.

What are the four BIPP categories?

Who is eligible for BIPP?

The following can apply:

• A single company or a consortium of companies incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013.
• An LLP incorporated under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008.
• Either of the above, jointly with public or private universities and colleges in India, national research laboratories, or not-for-profit private research labs, societies, foundations and NGOs as collaborators.

Eligibility conditions

• For a company, at least 51% of shares must be held by Indian citizens holding an Indian passport. Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) do not count as Indian citizens for this test.
• For an LLP, at least half of the persons who subscribed their names as partners must be Indian citizens.
• The applicant must have an adequate in-house facility to implement the project, verified during the site visit, or be incubated at a recognised incubation facility.
• An academic collaborator must have proper registration or accreditation from a government body, UGC affiliation, AICTE, CSIR, DSIR or SIRO certification.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual. There is no individual or personal benefit under BIPP, and no citizen application route exists.
• Your company withdrew a proposal after Apex Committee approval, or had a project foreclosed for inadequate funds or any other irregularity, such companies are debarred from the next 2 calls or 1 year, unless the withdrawal was only because papers were not ready.
• Your company, subsidiary or sister concern has defaulted on repayment of a BIRAC loan or interest, is irregular on instalments, has not paid back unspent balance, or has not paid royalty due to BIRAC, such applicants are not eligible for financial assistance.
• Your company has a director of a defaulting company as described above.
• Your proposal is for incremental development rather than transformational technology development.
• The same or a similar proposal is already funded by another agency.

A company may not have more than two ongoing projects as primary applicant and two as collaborator at any given time.

What documents are required for BIPP?

How to apply for BIPP funding

1. Log on to the BIRAC website at birac.nic.in and check whether a BIPP call for proposals is currently active. Calls are advertised in national dailies and biotechnology magazines and displayed on the BIRAC website.
2. If you are a registered user, log in. Otherwise select New User Registration and register your company or LLP. Company and LLP registration is open round the clock.
3. Collect the computer-generated password sent to the email address given at registration, and change it after first login.
4. After logging in, open the BIPP link under Programmes. The active call will be highlighted.
5. Click on the active call and prepare the proposal using the BIPP proforma and the BIPP User Guide available on the BIRAC website.
6. Fill in the technology description, proof-of-concept data, category (I, II, III A, III B or IV), milestones, budget and collaborator details.
7. Submit the undertaking that no other funding agency is supporting the same or a similar proposal.
8. Submit the proposal online before 17:30 hrs on the last date of the call. Only online submission is accepted.

How is a BIPP proposal evaluated?

According to the BIPP guidelines, evaluation runs through six stages:

1. Eligibility check of the submitted proposal.
2. Presentation before the Area Review Panel (ARP). The principal investigator presents to the relevant subject panel. The panels are Healthcare Devices; Healthcare Diagnostics; Healthcare Drugs, Drug Delivery, Biosimilars, Stem Cells, Vaccines and Clinical Trials; Agriculture, Veterinary Science and Aquaculture; and Environment, Energy and Secondary Agriculture.
3. Site visit or online interaction for due diligence on the in-house R&D facility, technical, IP and regulatory aspects.
4. Evaluation by the Technical Expert Committee (TEC), using the site visit report, a detailed IP search and regulatory requirements.
5. Financial due diligence on the applicant and every collaborator.
6. Final decision by the Apex Committee, chaired by the Secretary, DBT and Chairman, BIRAC.

Proposals are judged on novelty of the proposed product or technology, preliminary data generated, technical strength of the proof of concept, clarity of strategy, national and social relevance, the investigator's credentials and the expertise of the collaborative team, and commercial or translational potential.

The decision of the committee at any stage is final, and reconsideration requests are not entertained. An applicant may reapply in the next call.

How much does BIPP fund and how is it released?

Funding to companies, LLPs and Section 8 entities

• Start-ups incorporated less than 10 years before the call closes, which have not received BIRAC grant-in-aid before: a one-time grant-in-aid of up to Rs 50 lakh. If the start-up's budget in the project is below Rs 50 lakh, up to 100% grant-in-aid; if it is Rs 50 lakh or more, Rs 50 lakh plus up to 70% of the amount exceeding Rs 50 lakh.
• Start-ups that have already received BIRAC grant-in-aid, and all companies in existence for more than 10 years: irrespective of project cost, BIRAC's contribution is restricted to a maximum of 70% of that entity's total budget. A minimum of 30% must be contributed by the company.

Funding to research institutions as collaborators only

• Centre or state-owned research institutions, universities, societies and trusts: up to 100% grant-in-aid, irrespective of project cost.
• Private research institutions, universities, societies and trusts that have not received BIRAC grant-in-aid before: the same Rs 50 lakh / 70% structure as start-ups. Those that have already received BIRAC grant-in-aid are capped at 70% of their budget.

Release schedule

1. First instalment on signing of the contract.
2. Second instalment on completion of the first technical milestone.
3. Third instalment on completion of the second technical milestone.
4. Fourth instalment on submission of the project completion report.

It is mandatory for the applicant company to put in its own contribution before each BIRAC instalment is released, and the last instalment is a reimbursement; funds are released after the project is complete.

Who to contact about BIPP

BIRAC's office is at 5th Floor, NSIC Business Park, NSIC Bhawan, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi 110020. The published telephone number is 011-24389600 and the email is birac.dbt@nic.in. Call-specific queries are answered at the email address printed in the relevant request for proposals.

There is no fee to apply, and BIRAC does not use agents or consultants to source proposals.