Delhi, Feb 13: The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), in furtherance of its mandate to conserve biological resources and ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation, has realised an amount of Rs 2.40 crore under the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) framework in the last 45 days.
The amount was received from ten applications for carrying out activities relating to research and commercial use of biological resources, from entities belongs to seed and animal feed/cosmetic sectors.
The benefit-sharing contributions were realized from the use of various agriculture biological resources, including varieties /hybrids of rice, onion, bitter gourd, mustard, cotton, bottle gourd, brinjal, chilli, cucumber, okra, ridge gourd, tomato and seaweed.
A significant portion of the ABS amount of Rs 2.30 crore was realised from M/s Pioneer Overseas Corporation for commercial use of mustard and rice hybrids. Remaining ABS amount were received from M/s East West Seeds India Pvt. Ltd., M/s Advanta Enterprises Ltd., M/s Tokita Seed India Pvt. Ltd., M/s Avalo Inc, M/s Sea6 Energy Pvt. Ltd.
These biological resources were utilised for the development of agro-based products, including improved and hybrid seed varieties, resulting in significant boost to agro-economy.
Under the ABS mechanism, benefits will be shared with concerned Institutes, local communities, farmers, Biodiversity Management Committees, etc, those who provided the parental lines of seeds. This system supports livelihood enhancement and encourages the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity at the grassroot level.
In recent years, the NBA has introduced simplified and transparent procedures to facilitate compliance and promote ease of doing business, while ensuring that the interests of grass-root level communities remain safeguarded.
The seed sector has emerged as a leading contributor under the ABS framework. The Authority, however, encourages all stakeholders, including companies across sectors, to comply with the provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and actively contribute to biodiversity conservation efforts and equitable benefit-sharing.
Notably, NBA realised sum of Rs 3.42 crore from the seed sector in the current financial year 2025-26. With the latest realisation, the cumulative ABS amount realised by the NBA has crossed Rs 266 crore (approximately 29 million USD). Of this, Rs 83 crore has been realised from the seed sector alone, making it the second-largest contributor after Red Sanders.
The NBA continues to play a pivotal role in implementing India’s commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol on ABS, while contributing towards the achievement of National Biodiversity Targets and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework particularly, Target-13. This target emphasises the legislative measures for ABS mechanism.
