NBA releases ₹2.82 crore of ABS funds to 27 State Biodiversity Boards, 3 UT Biodiversity Councils and ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Karnataka

The recent disbursement of ₹2.82 crore by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) under the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) mechanism marks a significant milestone in India's implementation of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and its international obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol. This development is not merely a financial transaction but a concrete operationalisation of the principle that benefits arising from the commercial utilisation of genetic resources must be fairly and equitably shared with the providers of those resources — be they local communities, farmers, or public research institutions. The background to this disbursement lies in two distinct cases of commercial utilisation. First, M/s Advanta Enterprises Ltd. (formerly UPL Limited) paid ₹2.94 crore as ABS for accessing genetic resources associated with 24 horticultural hybrids — eight of cauliflower, five of hot pepper, five of okra, and six of tomato. Since these resources were acquired through a corporate acquisition and could not be traced to specific individual farmers or communities, the NBA constituted an Expert Committee to devise a fair modality for benefit sharing. The committee's recommendation, approved by the Authority, led to the allocation of ₹2.80 crore among 27 State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and 3 Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs) based on the cultivation extent of these crops. Gujarat (₹44.59 lakh), West Bengal (₹41.24 lakh), and Madhya Pradesh (₹32.73 lakh) emerged as the top recipients, reflecting their significant horticultural production. The second case involves M/s Sumitomo Chemical India Ltd., which paid ₹7.15 lakh for access to two microbial strains — Pseudomonas fluorescens (strain IIHR-Pf-2) and Trichoderma harzianum (strain IIHR-Th-2) — sourced from the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (ICAR-IIHR), Karnataka. As the resources originated from a public research institution, 30% (₹2.01 lakh) was disbursed to ICAR-IIHR, in line with the ABS modalities. The remaining funds will be utilised by the NBA under Section 27 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which establishes the National Biodiversity Fund. Constitutionally, this framework draws strength from Article 48A (Directive Principle for environmental protection) and Article 51A(g) (fundamental duty to protect the environment), while the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, enacted under Article 253 (legislation for implementing international agreements), provides the statutory backbone. The Act establishes a three-tier structure: the NBA at the national level, SBBs at the state level, and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the local level — ensuring decentralised governance of biodiversity. The significance for India is multifold. Economically, it incentivises conservation by linking it to tangible financial returns for communities and institutions. Socially, it empowers local bodies through BMCs and People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), which document traditional knowledge. Internationally, it demonstrates India's compliance with the Nagoya Protocol (ratified in 2012) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), particularly Target 13 on fair benefit-sharing, including from digital sequence information (DSI). With total ABS disbursements now reaching ₹185 crore (USD 19.34 million), the NBA's efforts are scaling up. Future implications include stronger monitoring of utilisation certificates, expansion of PBR documentation, enhanced capacity building of BMCs, and potential integration of DSI-related benefit-sharing mechanisms. As India advances its biodiversity governance, this case serves as a model for transparent, science-based, and equitable ABS implementation — crucial for sustainable development and global biodiversity leadership.