BIRAC-BioNEST Incubation Centre Inaugurated at CFTRI by Dr. Jitendra Singh

Honorable Union Minister of Science and Technology the Dr. Jitendra Singh has recently inaugurated the BIRAC-BioNEST Incubation Centre at Central Food Technological Research Institute. With this inauguration it marks the significant step towards to strengthening the India’s food innovation ecosystem. Alongside with this launch he had also reviewed the exhibition of the startup-driven technologies and also highlighting the growing the integration of scientific research with commercial application.

A State-of-the-Art Incubation Ecosystem

This newly launched BioNEST facility is designed for the modern incubation hub which is equipped with the advanced infrastructure.

This facility has dedicated to the startup spaces and also shared the research facilities.

It also aims to nurture the early-stage and growth-stage startups which are working in food technology and biotechnology.

This incubation centre will plays a crucial role in to supporting the food startups and biotech ventures and also enabling the product validation.

The initiative is also supported by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council which has providing the instrumental to promoting the innovation-led entrepreneurship in India.

Startup Growth and Innovation

As the March 2026 this BioNEST centre has already demonstrated the impressive results.

The total of 26 startups have been supported and they also including the physical incubates, hybrid models and graduate ventures.

These startups have collectively filed the nearly 12 patents and also indicates the strong innovation output and also published the multiple research papers.

Emerging Technologies Driving the Future of Food

One of the most important aspects of the BioNEST ecosystem is the its focus on the cutting-edge and high-value sectors. Also this startups have incubated at CFTRI are working in the areas like,

• Nutraceuticals This are the health-focused food products.
• Precision fermentation this is the advanced microbial production techniques.
• Probiotics and postbiotics gut health innovations.
• CRISPR-based technologies which are the gene-editing applications.
• Botanical and plant-based products