National Biodiversity Authority disburses Rs 5.68 crore to states under ABS mechanism

Key facts

• The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) disbursed Rs 5.68 crore to State Biodiversity Boards and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils under the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism.
• The funds were derived from the utilisation of biological resources including okra, cucumber, and watermelon, with major recipients being Gujarat (Rs 88.79 lakh), West Bengal (Rs 78.08 lakh), and Madhya Pradesh (Rs 64.90 lakh).
• The largest ABS component, for okra, involved Rs 3.51 crore released to 32 State Biodiversity Boards and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils, with the amount received from Nunhems India Private Limited.
• Other ABS components for watermelon and cucumber were accessed through markets and traders by Nunhems India Private Limited, East West Seeds India Private Limited, and Bayer Science and Innovation Private Limited.
• The NBA also disbursed benefit-sharing funds to CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) at Pune from an ABS amount received from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd at Mumbai.
• With this disbursement, the total ABS amount disbursed by the NBA has crossed Rs 191 crore.