For the first time in over 5 decades, the Indian government has granted public funding to a cannabis research project, with ramifications which will determine ‘whether India can build a credible pharmaceutical industry’ around cannabis.
Delta Botanicals & Research, A Bhubaneswar cannabis and hemp-research firm has received a grant for research on cannabis genetics from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Delta’s task in the months to come will be to develop seed varieties that can produce industrial hemp as well as medical cannabis.
Vikramm Mittra, co-founder and managing director of Delta, said MEDCAN24: The world will be different if we solve genetics.
“Without stable genetics, you cannot standardise extracts, and without standardisation, you cannot build a pharmaceutical market… This is not just a research project; it is about building the foundation of India’s entire cannabis industry.”
The Grant
This grant is the first government funding for cannabis research and seed breeding in India, since 1985 when the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was introduced.
It is a significant step in the development of cannabis within the country. However, should it succeed, it could see cannabis-based drugs establish a foothold in ‘the Pharmacy of the World’, where 20% of the planet’s generic drugs supply is made.
This funding is provided by the Prime Minister’s Rashtriya Krisshi Vikas Scheme’s National Farmers Development Scheme. It will be supported by Indira Gandhi KrishiVishwavidyalaya’s Agri-Business Incubation Centre.
He explained that seeds are one of the major bottlenecks for India’s marijuana ecosystem. Without stable genetics everything downstream, from cultivation through to clinical research, becomes challenging. India’s cannabis industry is falling behind in this area. The industry won’t be able to achieve true compliance and scale scientifically until this issue is resolved.
This project will be focused on the genotyping and phenotyping of landraces sourced primarily from the Himalayas, Odisha and other regions. It will also include indoor and outdoor controlled cultivation trials.
The ultimate goal of the project is to create seed varieties that can consistently meet regulatory thresholds in industrial hemp while supporting standardisation for pharmaceutical development.
In the past, this upstream problem has been ignored in favor of other, more visible, issues, such as product development and licensing. Both agricultural and medical uses are limited by the lack of genetically consistent plants.
Industrial hemp can be rendered non-compliant by unstable genetics. This makes them commercially inviable. In pharmaceutical applications, the variability of plant chemistry can make it hard to generate reproducible data or standardised extracts, which is essential for regulatory approval.
Mitra explained that the pharmaceutical journey did not start in the laboratory. ‘It begins with the plant.”
This issue is especially acute in India where regulators insist on robust data generated locally. Mitra claims that policymakers in India have highlighted repeatedly the need for India-specific information, including clinical outcomes as well as agricultural inputs.
The regulators want very specific data. Data generated from Indian populations, and plants that are grown in Indian conditions.
India’s unique cannabis landscape
This grant is given at a moment when India’s marijuana market expands rapidly but in an uncoordinated or non-standardised manner.
India’s legal marijuana market has a significant share of the cannabis industry that is operated under an Ayurveda Framework, the traditional medicine of a particular country that differs from pharmaceutical modern approaches.
In simple terms, Ayurveda treats cannabis, referred to as ‘Vijaya’, not as an isolated compound such as CBD or THC, but as part of a broader herbal formulation. The products are made from a combination of cannabis and other ingredients that have been documented in historic medical texts.
In India, this has led to a rapid increase in cannabis-based products. This includes oils, capsules, edibles, and other ingestibles that are marketed as treatments for anxiety and insomnia, pain and chronic conditions. It has created some challenges.
Ayurveda is not known for its ability to isolate and quantify active cannabinoids. This means that many Ayurvedic products lack precise dosages of the compounds. Contrast this with pharmaceutical models where reproducibility and precise composition are key.
The Ayurvedic path has led to an early expansion of the market, but it also has contributed to a gap in commercial availability and validation by science, which regulators have begun to close through tighter supervision.
Commercially, businesses are experimenting more with different product formats. They’re moving away from oils and capsules to try gummies, drinks, and other forms of ingestibles. Some of these products are being approved under Ayurvedic frameworks, despite functioning in practice as lifestyle or recreational-adjacent offerings.
A change in consumer behaviour is driving this shift. Urban consumers, especially those with higher incomes, are increasingly interested in plant-based products and more willing to experiment.
Amazon and other global platforms have begun to accept certain hemp-derived topical products. These developments signal a normalisation in the industry.
However, there is also tighter supervision in some key areas. The approval of new Ayurvedic cannabis formulations is now being handled by central authorities. They have stricter safety and toxicity requirements, as well as supporting data.
This is due to the regulators’ growing concern that products that have been approved as medicine are used for other purposes. The new system has made it more difficult to launch new products, and few approvals have been granted.
The structural challenge
Although the product and demand growth is encouraging, structural challenges are still limiting the development of the sector.
Lack of standardised materials is a key example. Many cannabis products used in the legal sector are derived from different sources. As a result, there is inconsistency in terms of cannabinoid composition and other factors. It has implications for not just product quality, but also dosing and safety.
Lack of stable genetics in seeds compounds the problem. In the absence of reliable inputs from plants, businesses struggle to deliver consistent outcomes, which undermines attempts to build an evidence-based, medically credible marketplace.
This same dynamic affects cannabis cultivation. This dynamic also impacts cannabis cultivation.
Mitra says that the bottleneck created by this problem affects all stakeholders in the value chain. This includes farmers, manufacturers, and researchers.
Why is this research critical?
Delta’s project is designed to fill these gaps. It will do so by developing Indian-specific seed varieties and generating genetic data that has been validated domestically.
Short-term, it is anticipated that the research will provide baseline data regarding cannabis genetics as well as cultivation performance in various environments. The goal is to produce stable varieties with high compliance that are suitable for use in both industrial hemp applications and medical uses.
Mitra thinks this would have a positive impact across the industry, as it could lead to more accurate cultivation, support for research and developments, and possibly inform future regulations.
In the debate about THC levels for industrial hemp, this is a topic that could have a significant impact. India has a limit of 0.3% in certain jurisdictions. This standard is derived from the international model, but may not be suitable for local conditions.
Mitra explained that we needed data to engage in a conversation with regulators. If we can demonstrate that different varieties are stable under Indian conditions at various thresholds, then that will open the door for more effective and practical policies.
In the three-to-five years to come, he anticipates his work will lead to an ecosystem of cannabis production that is more vibrant, with a greater number of licensed growers, and a growing interest among other states in exploring policy frameworks for cannabis.
The grant is a significant development but it’s still a first step of what will likely be a lengthy process.
Nevertheless, this move highlights the growing realization that India’s cannabis industry is not reliant on innovation or consumer demand alone for growth. The future of this industry may be determined by addressing less obvious, but fundamental components in the value chain.
Mitra stated: “Before you talk about the products, fix your plant.”