Villagers in Dapur, Maharashtra, received an unexpected Rs 68 lakh payment in their Gram Panchayat account.
The money came after a company used bacteria from soil collected in the village to develop probiotic products.
Under India’s biodiversity laws, companies must share profits from biological resources with local communities.
The windfall is now prompting villagers to invest in biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration.
Residents of Dapur village in Maharashtra were both puzzled and excited when nearly Rs 68 lakh appeared in their Gram Panchayat bank account in November 2025.
The surprise was understandable. The village had not applied for any government grant or development scheme. Yet a substantial sum had been transferred to its account.
For weeks, villagers struggled to understand where the money had come from. Eventually, officials from the state biodiversity board and the forest department called a public meeting to explain.
The funds, they said, had arrived through India’s Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism — a legal framework under the provisions of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) that requires companies to share profits derived from biological resources with the communities from which they originate.
The payment was linked to something seemingly ordinary: two kilogrammes of soil collected from the village.
Dapur lies about 50 kilometres from Nashik and has a population of roughly 5,900 according to the 2011 census, though local estimates suggest it has now grown to more than 8,000.
Most residents depend on agriculture, cultivating kharif crops such as soybean and maize, along with vegetables including onions, tomatoes and beans.
In 2024, biotechnology firm Advanced Enzyme Technologies Ltd collected soil from the village while searching for microorganisms with commercial potential. Researchers identified a bacterium, Bacillus coagulans, which can be used to produce probiotic products.
According to scientific studies, including research published in the Journal of Functional Foods, the bacterium has strong probiotic properties and can survive in extreme conditions. It produces enzymes that aid digestion and promote gut health.
The company later used the strain to develop 42 probiotic products, generating commercial returns.
Under India’s biodiversity laws, companies that use biological resources sourced from local ecosystems must share part of the benefits with the communities connected to those resources.
The payment to Dapur was made under the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) provisions overseen by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA).
The NBA was established by the Indian government in 2003 under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 to regulate the use of biological resources and ensure that benefits derived from them are shared fairly.
The framework also aligns with the Nagoya Protocol, an international agreement adopted in 2010 and implemented globally in 2014, which governs access to genetic resources and equitable benefit sharing.
Under this system, companies seeking to use biological resources must obtain approvals through national or state biodiversity authorities and consult local bodies.
At the village level, biodiversity is overseen by Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) set up within Gram Panchayats. These committees document local species, ecosystems and traditional knowledge through a People’s Biodiversity Register.
If biological resources (like herbs, for example) or associated knowledge are used commercially, the company must share a portion of its profits with the communities linked to those resources.
Typically, the payment ranges between 1 per cent and 5 per cent of the purchase price or 0.1 per cent to 0.5 per cent of the sale price of the final product.
While national and state biodiversity boards can retain about 5 per cent of the payment for administrative costs, the remaining 95 per cent must go to local communities through the village biodiversity committees.
Doulat Vaghamode, programme officer at the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board in Pune, said Dapur’s Gram Panchayat received Rs 67,69,359 in November 2025 under this mechanism.
He explained that officials from the National Biodiversity Authority and the state board visited the village in June 2024 to verify the details.
“We were informed that the soil sample had been sourced from this village,” he said. “Our visit was to confirm the information and understand the local context.”
Vaghamode noted that the bacterium itself is not unique to Dapur.
“It is found in soils across India,” he said. “But the company happened to source the bacteria from this village, and since it generated commercial benefit, the community is entitled to a share and is benefitting from it.”
The unexpected payment has now sparked a discussion within the village about how the money should be used.
Under the ABS rules, the funds cannot be spent on general infrastructure projects such as roads or water tanks. Instead, they must be used specifically for biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecological management.
Yogesh Avhad, a former village sarpanch, said the restriction came as a surprise. “At first we thought the money could be used for roads or water tanks,” he said. “But this is the first time we learned that such funds must be used to protect and enhance biodiversity.”
Village leaders are now considering setting aside a section of common land to create either a botanical garden or a sacred grove dedicated to conserving local plant species.
The Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board has also begun working with the village to prepare its People’s Biodiversity Register, which documents plants, animals, ecosystems and traditional knowledge in the area.
An awareness meeting was held in Dapur on February 28 to explain how the ABS mechanism works and how the funds could be used.
Pravin Burse, the village development officer, said the area does not have a dense forest but contains patches of degraded woodland with important medicinal plants.
Among them is Gulvel (Tinospora cordifolia), commonly used by farmers as a paste to treat injured livestock, and Kadamba, known as the burflower tree, which has traditional medicinal uses including aiding digestion. “These plants are widely used by traditional healers in the region,” Burse said.
The surrounding landscape is also home to a range of wildlife, including hyenas, leopards, wild boars, peacocks, rabbits and wild cats. “Hyenas depend on grassland ecosystems,” Burse said. “If we can protect and restore wild grasses, we can support their habitat.”
He said the ABS funds offer a rare opportunity for the village to invest directly in ecological restoration. “It is the first time we have the chance to spend money specifically on nature and biodiversity,” he said.
One proposal under discussion is to develop a botanical garden that could serve both conservation and educational purposes.
Village leaders say the garden could help schoolchildren learn about local biodiversity while providing researchers with access to native plant species in their natural habitat.
Officials from the forest department have also begun working with the community to strengthen biodiversity governance.
Siddhesh Savardekar, the Divisional Forest Officer for Nashik (West), said villagers were recently briefed about the Biological Diversity Act and its associated rules.
“They were informed about the importance of community participation in biodiversity conservation,” he said.
Local officials were also instructed on how to maintain and update the People’s Biodiversity Register.
For many villagers, the experience has fundamentally changed how they think about their environment.
Burse said the discovery that two kilograms of soil could generate lakhs of rupees was a revelation.“We have always heard that soil and biodiversity are valuable,” he said. “But this is the first time we have seen its value in monetary terms.”
The village is now considering broader changes in agricultural practices as well. Community leaders say farmers have begun discussing ways to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in order to protect the health of the soil. The unexpected payment, they say, has opened a new chapter in the community’s relationship with its natural resources.
(The reporter is recipient of Promise of Commons Media Fellowship 2024, on the significance of Commons and its Community Stewardship)