The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has disbursed around Rs. 1.04 crore of Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) amount among 27 State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs), two Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs). This demonstrates how benefits arising from the utilisation of agricultural biological resources can be channelled towards biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
The amount represents benefit-sharing contributions received from Crystal Crop Protection Limited, Savannah Seeds Pvt. Ltd. and Nunhems India Pvt. Ltd. for access to agricultural biological resources for research and commercial purposes. The contributions relate to the utilisation of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), jowar (Sorghum bicolor), maize (Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa L.) and bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria). These crops are important components of India’s agricultural biodiversity, supporting food security, farming livelihoods and agricultural innovation.
NBA has adopted an area-based approach to distribute the benefit-sharing component, where biological resources are procured through markets, traders or intermediaries and individual benefit claimers cannot be identified. Allocations are determined proportionately, taking into account the geographical distribution and cultivation area of the relevant crops, based on agricultural statistics published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare through its Unified Portal for Agricultural Statistics.
The disbursal of around Rs. 1.04 crore covers allocations to SBBs and UTBCs. The state-wise distribution includes allocations for the top 10 States and the remaining States collectively, based on the applicable area-based methodology.
State-wise disbursement of the ABS amount
The agriculture sector, which has generated approximately Rs. 87 crore ($9.16 mn) in ABS contributions, is emerging as an important contributor to India’s ABS mechanism. These contributions can support the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biological resources, including traditional crop varieties and genetic diversity, while strengthening biodiversity-related initiatives at the State and Union Territory levels.
Till date, the NBA has released over Rs. 204 crore ($21.48 mn) in ABS benefits, supporting biodiversity conservation and benefit sharing across the country. India’s ABS framework contributes to the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol and supports Target 13 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for effective measures to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources, digital sequence information and associated traditional knowledge.
India’s experience in implementing ABS will be highlighted at the CBD COP 17 side event ‘From Policy to Practice: Advancing India’s Biodiversity Commitments through Innovation, Finance, and ABS’, scheduled on 28th October 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia. The event will showcase India’s efforts to translate biodiversity commitments into action through policy implementation, innovation, financing and benefit sharing.
Funds allocated to SBBs and UTBCs are to be utilised in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and for activities relating to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, documentation, research, capacity building and strengthening local biodiversity governance, as applicable. India’s ABS framework is governed by the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, as amended in 2023, the Biological Diversity Rules, 2024, and the Access and Benefit-Sharing Regulations, 2025. Section 21 of the Act provides for the determination of fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from the utilisation of biological resources. The present release of money demonstrates the practical application of this framework in agricultural supply chains, linking research and commercial utilisation with support for biodiversity-related initiatives.