This rapid literature review has found that evidence on India’s experience and achievements in biotechnology is largely generated by government reports and state agency websites. A review of academic studies, government publications and Government of Indian websites, as well as reports issued by different development agencies was conducted to gather evidence on achievements in the Indian experience of innovation in biotechnology. Much of the evidence gathered is based on Government of India reports. The report particularly focuses on the evidence from India’s innovation experience on the health, agriculture, clean energy and waste to value sectors. The literature on these sectors mainly focuses on what has been achieved with sector specific evidence on how innovation was supported in specific programmes and projects. Some of the key examples gathered address varying levels of innovation development. These include national level sectoral strategies, policy development, incubation, international collaborations and support for commercialization of ideas.

K4D helpdesk reports provide summaries of current research, evidence and lessons learned. This report was commissioned by the UK Department for International Development.