BIRAC GCI — Screening & Diagnosis Innovations Open Call

BIRAC GCI grant up to ₹2 crore for breakthrough screening & diagnostics innovations in TB, emerging pathogens and enteric disease.

This Open Call under Grand Challenges India (GCI–BIRAC), administered by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council under the Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India, supports indigenous innovations and transformative solutions in four priority infectious disease areas — tuberculosis, emerging pathogens, syndromic panels and enteric pathogens. The call targets high-risk, high-reward innovations for screening and diagnostics, with an emphasis on near point-of-care and ultra-low-cost solutions designed to significantly improve accessibility and availability.

The Call offers two funding tiers. The Exploratory tier provides up to ₹50 lakh over a 12-month duration for high-risk early proposals. The Solution / Innovation / Product / Technology tier provides up to ₹2 crore over an 18-month duration for proposals advancing toward product or technology development and deployment.

The Call is open to a broad set of applicants: Indian academic and research institutions, public and private R&D organisations, start-ups, and not-for-profit foundations. Multidisciplinary partnerships and consortia-based applications are strongly encouraged — academic, clinical and industry-led collaborations are explicitly welcomed.

Beyond direct funding, awardees receive technical handholding from BIRAC / GCI and access to scale-up and deployment pathways. Applications must be submitted through the BIRAC online portal only; applicants need to register on the BIRAC portal first. The Call was announced on 12 May 2026 and applications close on 1 July 2026 at 2:00 PM IST.