In Environmental Biotechnology programme R&D activities are focused on to support research and development programme in the areas relevant to waste management & environmental improvement, development & demonstration of wastewater specific effective bioremediation options like natural attenuation to bio-stimulation, bio-augmentation or a combination of filtration, phytoremediation and microbial degradation, Bio-restoration technologies for restoration of degraded ecosystems. New R&D programmes / projects have been initiated on various aspects of development of treatment process of industrial effluent, bioremediation of xenobiotic compounds, biodiversity conservation & characterization of biodiversity, carbon sequestration etc. River cleaning programme has also been started to develop and demonstrate various wastewater clean-up options. Department has also initiated R&D projects on remediation and reclamation of Hexa-Chloro-Cyclo-Hexane (HCH) dumpsite by using microbial bioremediation technology, bioconversion of CO2 to platform chemicals through microbial catalyzed electrochemical approaches, development and demonstration of pulp paper mill effluent detoxification technology after secondary treatment by combination of bio-augmentation and constructed wetland treatment process for re-use and prevention of river pollution, design of biosensor for detecting of xenobiotic pollutants in river water, development of novel fluorescent platforms for the detection of heavy metals in water etc.