FAQ's

No. Section 4 exempts publication of research papers on any biological resources occurring in or obtained or accessed from India or dissemination of knowledge in any seminar or workshop involving financial benefit, provided such publication or dissemination is in conformity with the guidelines issued by the Central Government.

The Act provides for the following exemptions:

1. Access by Section 7 entities for research / bio-survey / bio-utilization: Access to biological resources or knowledge associated thereto by a Section 7 entity for undertaking research or bio-survey and bio-utilisation in India is exempted from seeking approval of SBB/NBA under the Act.
2. Value-added products: Access to value-added products, which may contain portions or extracts of plants and animals in unrecognisable and physically inseparable form {Sec. 2(p)}.
3. Codified traditional knowledge and cultivated medicinal plants: Codified traditional knowledge, cultivated medicinal plants and their products, local people and communities of the area, including growers and cultivators of biodiversity and vaids, hakims and registered AYUSH practitioners only, who have been practising indigenous medicines, including Indian systems of medicine as profession for sustenance and livelihood are exempted under Section 7 of the Act.
4. Conventional breeding: Accessing biological resources for conventional breeding or traditional practices in use in any agriculture, horticulture, poultry, dairy farming, animal husbandry or beekeeping, in India {Section 2(f)}.
5. Academic dissemination: Publication of research papers or dissemination of knowledge, in any seminar or workshop involving financial benefit, if such publication is in conformity with the guidelines issued by the Central Government from time to time (first proviso clause to Section 4).
6. Collaborative research: Transfer or exchange of biological resources or TK under collaborative research projects between Government-sponsored institutions and such institutions in other countries are exempted subject to conformity to the policy guidelines issued by the Central Government (Section 5).
7. Normally traded as commodities: Biological resources when normally traded as commodities or to the items derived from them, including agricultural wastes, as notified and cultivated medicinal plants and their products for entities covered under Section 7, registered as per the regulations made or as may be prescribed, notified by the Central Government (Section 40).
8. Crops under ITPGRFA: Accessing the crops from amongst the crops listed at Annex-I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), as notified by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India from time to time, is exempted from the provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Act, for the purpose of utilization and conservation for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture.
9. Approvals under the PPVFRA: Any person who has been given any approval or granted any right under any law relating to protection of plant varieties enacted by the Parliament to the extent that such approvals or rights given under that Act does not require similar approval under the BD Act (Section 59-A).

As per regulation 4 of the BD (ABS) Regulations, 2025, the applicant shall have to pay the benefit sharing amount to the NBA as per the slabs prescribed below:

Biological resources having conservation or high economic value, including species notified under Section 38 of the Act are subject to 20% more than the benefit sharing due.

If access is made to a biological resource that has conservation value, or high economic value such as red sanders, sandalwood, agarwood, or any other item identified by the Authority, including threatened species listed under Section 38 of the Act, the ABS component shall not be less than five percent of the proceeds of the auction or sale amount, or purchase price, as the case may be. This amount will be decided by the Authority on a case-by-case basis and must be paid as an upfront payment.

Yes. - The Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 were notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on April 15, 2004 which came into force on July 01, 2004.

Pursuant to the amendments to the BD Act in 2023, the MoEFCC notified the Biological Diversity Rules, 2024 on October 22, 2024, thereby superseding the BD Rules, 2004. The BD Rules, 2024 came into force on December 21, 2024 upon expiry of 60 days from the date of notification in accordance with rule 1(2) of the BD Rules, 2024.

Further the BD Rules, 2024 were amended vide Biological Diversity (Amendment) Rules, 2025 which were notified on May 06, 2025 and came into force on November 01, 2025.

Approval shall be granted in the form of an agreement executed between the applicants and the NBA. The agreement shall contain the benefit sharing component, terms and conditions subject to which the applicant shall access the biological resources for research/commercial utilization/bio-survey and bio-utilization/IPR.

If a Section 3(2) entity accesses biological resources from any place or location within India, including from a trader or the wholesale market or institute or repository in India, it is mandatory to obtain prior approval from the NBA by applying in Form-2 for accessing the biological resources for commercial utilization under Section 3 of the BD Act read with Rule 13 of the BD Rules, 2024.

No. As per Section 59A of the Act, the provisions of the BD Act shall not apply to a person who has been granted approval or rights under the PPVFRA, to the extent that such approvals or rights do not require similar approval under the BD Act.

A “Foreign controlled company” means any company incorporated or registered in India under any law for the time being in force, which is controlled by a foreigner within the meaning of clause (27) of Section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013.

Under Section 2(27) of the Companies Act, 2013 -“control” shall include the right to appoint majority of the directors or to control the management or policy decisions exercisable by a person or persons acting individually or in concert, directly or indirectly, including by virtue of their shareholding or management rights or shareholders agreements or voting agreements or in any other manner.

In case of biological resource having conservation value or high economic value such as red sanders, sandalwood, agarwood or any other items as decided by the Authority from time to time, and including threatened species notified under section 38 of the Act, the benefit sharing shall not be less than 5% of the proceeds of the auction or sale amount or the purchase price, as the case may be, as determined by the Authority on case to case basis, as upfront payment. This includes from both cultivated and non-cultivated biological resources

The Act does not recognise a category called 'company-owned material', while dealing with biological resources. Hence the recipient/user of the biological resource needs to obtain approval of NBA under Section 3 of the Act if the biological resources contain any strain of an Indian germplasm.

Yes. Upon receipt of an application for access to biological resources, the NBA forwards the application to the concerned SBB(s) for obtaining the consent or otherwise of the relevant BMC(s) through a consultative process in the area from where the biological resources are obtained/accessed. The BMC is responsible for facilitating the task of obtaining prior informed consent from the concerned local communities or individual benefit claimants, if any. A similar procedure is followed by the SBBs in the respect of applications submitted by the applicants other than those covered under Section 3(2) of the Act.

Are there any contradictions with the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972?
The ABS process remains the same for all biological resources, including those collected from wild. Section 59 of the BD Act provides that the provisions of the Act are in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions in any other law currently in force, especially those relating to forests or wildlife.

With regard to the benefit sharing, the beneficiaries may include the State Forest Department, the SBB, BMCs or any other stakeholders, as the case may be.

• If the applicant seeks approval from the NBA after the grant of the patent in or outside India, it shall be treated as a contravention of Section 6 of the BD (Amendment) Act, 2023.
• If a Section 3(2) (person/entity), after obtaining prior approval, access or utilise any biological resource other than those specified in the e-form application, it shall be treated as a contravention of the Act.
• If a Section 7 (person/entity) commercialises the patent without prior approval of the NBA, it will be treated as a contravention as per Section 6(1B) of the Act read with Rules 16 (3) of the BD Rules, 2024.

The NBA is mandated to perform facilitative, regulatory, and advisory functions on matters relating to biodiversity. The mandate includes the following:

• Regulating activities referred to in Sections 3, 4, and 6 of the BD Act by granting or rejecting approvals.
• Framing regulations, in consultation with the Central Government, for access to biological resources and associated traditional knowledge (TK), and for determining the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation.
• Advising the Central Government on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of biological resources, in accordance with the provisions of the BD Act.
• Advising the State Governments in framing rules for the management and conservation of biodiversity heritage sites (BHSs) notified by the State Government in consultation with the State Biodiversity Board (SBB)/Union Territory Biodiversity Council (UTBC), the local body, and the concerned BMC.

Taking necessary measures, on behalf of the Central Government, to oppose the grant of intellectual property rights (IPR) in any country outside India on any biological resource occurring in, found in, or brought from India including those deposited in repositories outside India or on associated TK that has been accessed illegally.

• Adjudicating upon any dispute between two or more the State Biodiversity Boards, upon a reference made to it by the Central Government, with the same powers and functions of a Civil Court (see, Section.50(clauses 4,5,6&7)
• Performing any other functions as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the BD Act.

The general functions of the NBA are further elaborated under Rule 11 of the Biological Diversity Rules, 2024.

NBA approval for research is maximum five years and timeline will be extended on request from the applicant, on a case to case basis. However, in case of adding new biological resources into the ongoing research, may be considered after following due process such as PIC and MAT

In the first instance, the Section 7 company must give prior intimation to the concerned SBB/UTBC, as the case may be, for accessing the biological resource for extracting essential oil for commercial utilization.

Subsequently, the Section 3(2) company has to obtain prior approval of the NBA, by filing an application in Form-2 to access the biological resource (essential oil) for commercial utilisation.

Yes, when Indian biological resources are used solely as standards such as national checks, zonal checks, or other commercial reference varieties, they are exempted from the ABS requirements, as these uses do not involve commercial utilisation of biological resources.
 

As per Section 2(a) of the Act, “access” means collecting, procuring or possessing any biological resource occurring in or obtained from India or TK associated thereto, for the purposes of research or bio-survey or commercial utilisation.

With regard to the calculation of upfront payment as concerned, the NBA will calculate each variety/lines / hybrid, etc., as a separate biological resource and the upfront will be calculated accordingly.