The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), a bioscience research and innovation hub and life sciences incubator under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, has been selected as one of five Focused Research Organisations (FROs) under the Research, Development, and Innovation Fund (RDIF). Under the initiative, the government has declared a funding allocation of ₹500 crore (over $51 million) for C-CAMP to support deep tech innovation in India.
C-CAMP will collaborate with its private partners and investors to build a total consortium funding of more than ₹1,000 crore to support deep tech life sciences startups that can create impact in India and beyond.
“As the only dedicated biotech organisation in the list of 19 Second Level Fund Managers [SLFM] announced by the government, C-CAMP will aim to fund high-risk yet game-changing biotech innovations that can redefine India’s healthcare, agriculture, and environment,” a statement from C-CAMP said.
The released SLFM list includes five FROs and 14 Alternative Investment Funds, with an allocation of ₹7,131 crore. The other four FROs are IISc, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras and BITS Pilani.
Welcoming the announcement, C-CAMP Director-CEO Taslimarif Saiyed said, “We firmly believe that biotech will be the new game-changer for society, with potential to transform sectors that have the highest overlap with human life, whether that be health, agriculture, and food security or environment and planetary health. With this selection as an RDI fund manager by the Government of India alongside seasoned Investors and venture capitalists, we will ensure that lack of funding does not remain the bottleneck it currently is, for India’s biotech innovators to compete with the world’s best.”
The RDIF that was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 3, 2025, is a funding initiative worth ₹1 lakh crore over six years designed to drive private sector participation in research and innovation in India, with the aim of plugging the gap in patient capital for high-risk but high-gain sectors like deep tech.
“RDIF was approved by the Union Cabinet on July 1, 2025, and has already supported 22 startups through direct project funding, of which 2 are C-CAMP portfolio startups — Eyestem Research and Peptris Technologies,” the C-CAMP statement noted.
An RDI funding criterion is technologies above TRL [Technology Readiness Level] 4 and above, which translates into technologies beyond the lab and closer to market.
“Beyond utilising the funds to support TRL 4 startups, C-CAMP is also keen on catalysing more private fund infusion into the deep-tech ecosystem in keeping with the RDI’s defining objectives. We are targeting both patient capital that nurtures ideas and disciplined commitments that shape commercial trajectories in deep science. That is where C-CAMP’s deep ecosystem network will play a role,” Mr. Saiyed adds.
Published - October 16, 2026 08:57 pm IST