India’s premier biotechnology innovation hub, C-CAMP has announced the launch of its first dedicated foray into climate innovation, a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Sustainability and Climate Action, under its flagship Bio for Climate programme, in collaboration with Ashraya Hastha Trust (AHT), a Bengaluru-based philanthropy.
AHT was established in 2000 by Maj. (Retd.) S. Nanjundiah and guided by its founding trustees — K. Dinesh (Co-founder of Infosys), Asha Dinesh, Divvya Dinesh, and Deeksha Dinesh.
The CoE was launched at C-CAMP premises in Bengaluru, Karnataka by C-CAMP and AHT leadership in the gracious presence of Shri Dinesh Gundu Rao, Hon'ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka.
The CoE which will be anchored by the Bio for Climate vision will bank on biology-driven solutions that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable natural and scalable biological carbon sequestration. Besides its obvious impact on environment, the CoE also envisages three C’s – viz. climate-readiness, climate-resilience and climate-friendliness in modern healthcare and agriculture.
Over the next three to five years the CoE aims to move the climate needle by
- Mapping the most pressing issues in the selected thematic areas of Climate intersecting with Environment, Health, and Agriculture, respectively, through rigorous stakeholder engagement and stakeholder-vetted problem statements
- Harvesting, identifying and supporting high-impact contextual solutions targeting these pain points
- Facilitating validation and large-scale adoption of these ideas by stakeholders and on-ground implementation.
Welcoming this collaboration, Shri Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “Today marks the launch of an important initiative on a critical issue. A programme that works towards how science, research, and biology-based solutions can help us address the adverse impacts of climate change on our health, environment, food, and livelihoods. As a Health Minister, I see every day how pollution, environmental degradation, and climate change affect people’s lives. For a healthy society, everything matters — the quality of water, the quality of air, the quality of food, and the lifestyle we lead. The solution lies in finding ways and means of using research and science and technology.
C-CAMP has consistently shown how to bridge the gap between problems and solutions, by working with experts, innovators, and entrepreneurs. With this new support, I am confident that we will bring out global solutions. The Karnataka will stand with you in every way to ensure this vision progresses as we all hope it will. I congratulate you and wish you the very best in this vital mission”
Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, Director-CEO of C-CAMP remarked, “Climate change is a global crisis, and numerous efforts are already underway worldwide to tackle the diverse challenges posed by this issue. Leveraging our experience of already having supported over 50 climate solutions across various programmes and our deep capabilities in biosciences research and innovation, we are kickstarting the Bio for Climate programme. Bio for Climate as the name suggests will encompass a dedicated initiative to identify, develop, and deploy deep biology-led climate solutions and technologies, a unique standpoint in nationally and globally ongoing efforts towards climate action.
As a mature ecosystem player, we have observed from very close quarters, the critical nexus between climate change and the emerging threats to agriculture, food security, public health and sustainability. Biotechnology will lie at the heart of climate action by addressing this very nexus. The C-CAMP AHT CoE will be an effort in this direction.”
K. Divvya Dinesh, Managing Trustee, AHT highlighted, “Climate and society are interconnected; food, water, health, homes, and livelihoods all depend on the climate. So, climate action is not merely an environmental issue, it is a societal necessity. As Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said, ‘You cannot change your future, but you can change your habits, and your habits will change your future.’ Today is about that shift: from awareness to action, from intent to implementation. At Ashraya Hastha Trust, our work has always centred on improving lives, through health, education, environment and equity.
C-CAMP brings scientific depth and ecosystem leadership; Ashraya Hastha Trust brings long-term commitment to communities. Together, we believe innovation must move beyond prototypes and it must reach people.”
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation added: “Climate change is affecting all our lives but especially the climate-vulnerable populations such as fishermen, farmers, agricultural stakeholders along the coast. Even for regions away from the coast, records show that we must be prepared for longer and more severe droughts, floods and other extreme events. These factors have a domino effect on what gets on our plates.
India is one of the world’s leading producers of grain such as rice, wheat and maize. We are food secure, but we are lagging in nutritional security. This means we still have high levels of anaemia affecting our women and children, undernutrition in young children, growing epidemic of obesity in urban populations etc, all pointing towards hidden hunger. We need to make our agriculture and food systems climate-proof and climate-resilient. I welcome the C-CAMP AHT CoE for sustainability and climate action and look forward to collaborating towards bringing sustainability in solutions moving beyond science alone.”
Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India noted: “For truly sustainable development, we need to urgently move beyond developing technology-oriented products. To find solutions, these products need to be linked to the ground and market. Unless technology speaks to the most affected stakeholders, they cannot solve problems. That is where C-CAMP and this CoE with AHT will play a huge role in helping deploy solutions through collaborations they strike up with government agencies, both state and central, non-governmental organisations, industry and so on. Together we can work towards an India that prevents crises not just solve crises.”
About C-CAMP: The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) is India’s premier research and innovation hub in the biosciences and one of the largest and most vibrant life sciences incubators in the country. C-CAMP has established several state-of-the-art technology platforms for facilitating cutting-edge research in biosciences which have supported 290+ publications. C-CAMP has helped catalyse research translation and commercialisation of more than 20 academic inventions. C-CAMP has directly funded, incubated and mentored 550+ start-ups over half a decade and is connected to over 3000 start-ups and entrepreneurs across the country in healthcare, agriculture and environment. C-CAMP is an initiative supported by Govt of India agencies, including the Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science & Technology, NITI Aayog-AIM, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Startup India, Principal Scientific Advisor’s Office, Government of India and Department of IT, BT, S&T Government of Karnataka. It has collaborated with several national and international philanthropies to foster societal impact of cutting-edge technology and has important international partnerships spread across the US, UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Brazil and Israel.
About AHT: Ashraya Hastha Trust (AHT) is a Bengaluru based Philanthropy committed to empowering ideas and organisations that strive to build a more just, inclusive, and equitable world. Established in May 2000 by Maj. (Retd.) S. Nanjundiah in Bengaluru, Karnataka, the Trust is guided by its founding trustees — K. Dinesh (Co-founder of Infosys), Asha Dinesh, Divvya Dinesh, and Deeksha Dinesh. For over two decades, AHT has been partnering with NGOs and civil society organisations across India to drive transformative social change and make a lasting difference in people’s lives. AHT supports initiatives across key areas of holistic development — Health, Education, Livelihoods, Environment & Climate Change, Animal Welfare, Disaster Relief, Gender Equality, and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.
Press links -
- https://yourstory.com/2025/12/c-camp-and-aht-launch-centre-of-excellence... [YourStory]
- https://www.biospectrumindia.com/news/16/27022/c-camp-launches-centre-of... [BioSpectrum]
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/c-camp-sets-up-centre-of-excel... [Times of India]
- https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/c-camp-ashraya... [Economic Times]
- https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/new-centre-of-exc... [Deccan Herald]
