Carbon Capture & Utilization

Name of the Directorate: Biomanufacturing

Name of the Programme: Carbon Capture and its Utilization

Program Overview

Rising CO₂ levels are accelerating climate change, making it crucial to adopt solutions that capture, convert, and reuse emissions. Carbon Capture and Utilization supports this transition by turning CO₂ into valuable resources, helping industries lower their environmental footprint while advancing national climate commitments.

Biotechnology is becoming central to this effort—using microbes, engineered biological systems, and sustainable bioprocesses to transform carbon into fuels, materials, and other useful products. In India, growing clean-energy ambitions, abundant renewable resources, and the presence of large industrial emission points create strong potential for deploying biobased CCU at scale.

While challenges such as high costs, limited energy efficiency, and the need for better biological conversion systems remain, the sector is rapidly evolving. With advances in synthetic biology, microalgal platforms, and bioenergy-linked carbon capture, CCU is emerging as a key pathway for India’s transition toward a circular, climate-resilient, and low-carbon future.

Mandate

CCU-driven biomanufacturing programme is aimed as a systems-level intervention integrating science for deployable solutions for decarbonising industry through circular bioeconomy approach, supporting India’s long-term climate commitments through green growth and manufacturing.

Thrust Areas

The programme thrusts on deployment level scaling up of the biobased CCU Technology platforms to utilize and convert the carbon dioxide to fuels, chemicals and materials in an integrated Biorefinery approach. Technology platforms based on algal and microbial, bielectrocatalytic systems, biochar, MICP-ACT and C1 Carbon utilization platforms for conversion to specialty chemicals. Programme intends to undertake the scalable biorefinery platforms ready to integrate for core sector emission utilization

Salient Achievements

Release of Booklet on Biomanufacturing for Carbon Capture and Strategic Workshop, 23rd January 2026, NII, New Delhi.

Contacts Concerned