The National Biodiversity Authority has released patent-linked Access and Benefit Sharing funds amounting to over forty three lakh rupees today. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change informed that the funds were generated from Intellectual Property Rights applications that utilised Indian biological resources for obtaining patents and commercialising the innovation. It further said that the step ensures that benefits derived from innovations based on Indian biological resources are equitably shared, particularly with communities, knowledge holders, and custodians who have conserved these resources for generations.

 

 

 

 

The Ministry further informed that the  amount has been disbursed to State Biodiversity Boards of Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and thirteen other states for onward release to the respective benefit claimers. It added that this milestone reinforces India’s commitment to fair and equitable benefit sharing under the Nagoya Protocol, while strengthening grassroots-level biodiversity governance across the country.