Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh on Thursday laid the foundation stone of India’s first dedicated BioFoundry Centre under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) at the National Agri-Food and Biomanufacturing Institute (NABI), Mohali.The facility, to be built at a cost of approximately Rs 42 crore over the next two years, will serve as a national platform for developing and scaling advanced biomanufacturing processes — with a focus on smart proteins, bio-inputs, and bio-based products in agri-food biotechnology.The minister said the centre would help bridge the gap between laboratory research and industrial-scale applications and strengthen India’s fast-growing bioeconomy.The BioFoundry will house large-scale fermenters, upstream and downstream processing systems and high-throughput experimental platforms. It will support startups and industry through scale-up, pre-commercialisation and technology transfer, and also function as a skill development hub for young professionals in biotechnology, the minister said.Dr Jitendra said rising global protein demand and environmental concerns made alternative, sustainable solutions imperative. Smart proteins — developed through microbial fermentation, plant biotechnology and synthetic biology — offered a scalable pathway for the future of food, he added.The minister said India’s bioeconomy was being backed by forward-looking frameworks such as BioE3 (biotechnology for economy, environment and employment), with synthetic biology and biomanufacturing central to meeting national objectives.