New Delhi: In a groundbreaking announcement during a post-budget webinar held via video conferencing today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed plans to establish a National Gene Bank in India. This new initiative aims to conserve the nation’s genetic resources, ensuring food security and agricultural sustainability for future generations.
The webinar brought together stakeholders from the government, industry, academia, and citizens, fostering a platform for discussions on how to effectively translate the budget’s transformative announcements into tangible outcomes. With a focus on empowering citizens, strengthening the economy, and fostering innovation, the deliberations aimed at paving the way for sustainable growth and leadership in technology, all aligned with the goal of achieving a Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047.
A gene bank is a repository that stores genetic material, such as seeds, pollen, and tissue samples, to protect biodiversity and preserve valuable plant varieties for research, conservation, and crop breeding. Since its inception, India has made significant strides in conserving its rich agricultural heritage. The country’s first gene bank, established in 1996 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in New Delhi, has been instrumental in preserving India’s diverse crop germplasm.
Currently, India’s gene bank stores over 0.47 million accessions of plant materials, including cereals, millets, legumes, oilseeds, and vegetables, which are vital for breeding and crop research. The establishment of the second National GenBank, as announced in the 2025-26 budget, will provide a critical facility to store 1 million germplasm lines, thus strengthening efforts to safeguard India’s agricultural biodiversity.
The National GenBank will play a pivotal role in preserving the genetic resources of over 811 cultivated crop species and 902 crop wild relatives, marking India’s significant contribution to global plant genetic resource (PGR) conservation. With climate change and environmental challenges threatening global biodiversity, the establishment of this second GenBank will enhance India’s position as a leader in preserving and managing plant genetic resources for sustainable farming systems.
Shri Modi’s announcement comes at a time when agricultural biodiversity is facing increasing risks from climate change, natural disasters, and other geopolitical threats. The safety duplicate structure of the new GenBank will serve as a fail-safe to secure India’s irreplaceable germplasm, ensuring long-term food security and agricultural resilience, both in India and for international partners, particularly in regions like SAARC and BRICS.
This initiative also reflects the government’s commitment to fostering global partnerships for biodiversity conservation, with India actively supporting countries lacking established PGR networks by sharing its knowledge and resources.
The establishment of this new GenBank aligns with India’s broader vision for sustainable agricultural growth and global leadership in biodiversity conservation.
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