The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has disbursed ₹2.82 crores under the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) mechanism arising from the utilization of India's biological resources. The disbursement includes ₹2.80 crores released to 27 State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and 3 Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs), while ₹2.01 lakh is being released to the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (ICAR-IIHR), Karnataka.
The NBA received ₹2.94 crores from Advanta Enterprises Ltd. (formerly UPL Limited) towards ABS for the utilization of genetic resources associated with eight hybrids of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), five hybrids of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum), five hybrids of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and six hybrids of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Since the biological resources were accessed through an acquisition of another company and could not be traced to specific benefit claimers, the NBA constituted an Expert Committee to recommend an appropriate modality for sharing the benefit sharing component.
The allocation to states was made taking into account the cultivation of the concerned horticultural crops across different States and Union Territories. Gujarat received the largest share at ₹44.59 lakh, followed by West Bengal (₹41.24 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (₹32.73 lakh), Odisha (₹32.57 lakh), Bihar (₹30.86 lakh), Chhattisgarh (₹16.54 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (₹12.66 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (₹10.51 lakh), Tamil Nadu (₹10.49 lakh), and Maharashtra (₹7.07 lakh). The remaining 20 SBBs/UTBCs received ₹40.55 lakh collectively.
The funds released to SBBs and UTBCs must be utilized within one year for activities including documentation and updation of People's Biodiversity Registers, in-situ and ex-situ conservation, restoration of degraded ecosystems, strengthening of Biodiversity Heritage Sites, capacity building of Biodiversity Management Committees, and community livelihood enhancement. Recipients must submit a utilization certificate and expenditure statement within one year of receipt.
Separately, the NBA received ₹7.15 lakh from Sumitomo Chemical India Ltd., Mumbai (formerly Excel Crop Care) as ABS amount towards access to two microbial strains, namely Pseudomonas fluorescens 1% WP (strain IIHR-Pf-2) and Trichoderma harzianum 1% WP (strain IIHR-Th-2), sourced from ICAR-IIHR, Karnataka. As the biological resources were accessed from a public research institution, 30% of the ABS amount (₹2.01 lakh) is being disbursed to ICAR-IIHR, with the remaining funds to be utilized by NBA as per Section 27 of the Biological Diversity Act.
ICAR-IIHR must utilize the funds within one year for activities including maintenance of repositories, research and biodiversity survey work, capacity building in taxonomy and conservation, and in-situ and ex-situ conservation of biological resources and their wild relatives. The total ABS amount released so far by NBA is ₹185 crores (USD 19.34 million), contributing to India's commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Nagoya Protocol, and Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 13.