The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) was set up in February, 1986. It is is part of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Its mandate is
- to support R&D and manufacturing in Biology;
- to promote university and industry interaction;
- to identify and set up Centres of Excellence for R&D;
- to manage an integrated programme for Human Resource Development;
- to serve as nodal point for specific international collaborations.
The DBT has responsibilities for autonomous institutions that perform R&D (List of autonomous institutions), including the National Institute of Immunology and the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS).
