NBA disburses around Rs. 3.79 crore under Access and Benefit Sharing mechanism to 33 States/UTs and National Institutes

India's biodiversity governance just took another significant step forward with the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) disbursing Rs. 3.79 crore as Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) to 33 State Biodiversity Boards, Union Territory Biodiversity Councils, ICAR-NBPGR, and the Hisar Bovine Sperm Station. This isn't just a routine fund transfer — it's a living demonstration of how India operationalises the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, to which India became a Party in 2014. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, enacted under Article 253 of the Constitution (legislation for implementing international agreements), provides the domestic legal architecture. The Act establishes a three-tier structure: the NBA at the national level, State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) at state level, and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at local body level — a beautiful example of cooperative federalism in environmental governance. The current disbursement arose because companies like Bayer, HM Clause, and Advanta Enterprises accessed India's vegetable and oilseed genetic resources — tomato, chilli, brinjal, cauliflower, watermelon, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, okra, and mustard — for research and commercial use. Interestingly, since these resources were accessed through markets and intermediaries, the original source communities couldn't be traced. The NBA, guided by an Expert Committee's benefit-sharing modalities, used cultivation-area data from the Ministry of Agriculture to proportionately distribute funds among states where these crops are grown. Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Odisha emerged as top recipients, reflecting their agricultural prominence. A unique cross-border dimension: Sri Lanka's Department of Animal Production paid ABS for accessing deep-frozen Sahiwal cattle semen, routed through Haryana SBB to the Hisar Bovine Sperm Station — showcasing India's livestock genetic wealth in international demand. The significance is multilayered. Economically, it validates that India's agrobiodiversity has tangible commercial value — cumulative ABS disbursements now exceed Rs. 166 crore. Socially, the mandate that SBBs use these funds for People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), in-situ/ex-situ conservation, Biodiversity Heritage Sites, BMC capacity building, and community welfare ensures benefits flow back to the grassroots conservers — often tribal and farming communities holding traditional knowledge. Internationally, this strengthens India's credibility in Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) negotiations and aligns with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's Target 13 (fair benefit-sharing) and Target 4 (genetic diversity conservation), while contributing to SDGs 2, 12, 15, and 17. Constitutionally, this draws from Article 48A (State shall protect environment) and Article 51A(g) (fundamental duty to protect natural environment), with the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 as the enabling legislation. The 2023 amendment to the Act further streamlined provisions for faster approvals and decriminalised certain offences, aiming to balance conservation with ease of doing business. Looking ahead, as India pushes for digital sequence information (DSI) benefit-sharing in global forums and updates its National Biodiversity Action Plan, such disbursements will likely scale up. The challenge remains: ensuring BMCs — often under-resourced — effectively utilise funds for genuine conservation and community empowerment. For aspirants, this case study perfectly illustrates the intersection of environmental law, federalism, agricultural economics, and international treaty implementation — a favourite UPSC theme.