New Delhi, Nov. 12 -- The Environment Ministry on Tuesday announced that the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released nearly Rs 43 lakhs in funds collected as patenting fees to benefit conservation measures at the grassroots levels across select states in India.

Calling the capital amount Patent-linked Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) funds, the ministry highlighted, "The funds were generated from Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) applications that utilised Indian biological resources for obtaining patents and commercialising the innovation."Outlining the purpose of these funds, the ministry noted that the money will support biodiversity conservation, sustainable resource management, and community-based livelihood strengthening....