(1) No person referred to in sub-section (2) shall, without previous approval of the National Biodiversity Authority, obtain any biological resource occurring in India or knowledge associated thereto for research or for commercial utilization or for bio-survey and bio-utilization.
(2) The persons who shall be required to take the approval of the National Biodiversity Authority under sub-section (1) are the following, namely: -
(a) a person who is not a citizen of India;
(b) a citizen of India, who is a non-resident as defined in clause (30) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);
(c) a body corporate, association or organization -
(i) not incorporated or registered in India; or
(ii) incorporated or registered in India under any law for the time being in force which has any non-Indian participation in its share capital or management.
Results of research not to be transferred to certain persons without approval of National Biodiversity Authority.
4. No person shall, without the previous approval of the National Biodiversity Authority, transfer the results of any research relating to any biological resources occurring in, or obtained from, India for monetary consideration or otherwise to any person who is not a citizen of India or citizen of India who is non-resident as defined in clause (30) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) or a body corporate or organization which is not registered or incorporated in India or which has any non-Indian participation in its share capital or management.
Explanation - For the purposes of this section, "transfer" does not include publication of research papers or dissemination of knowledge in any seminar or workshop, if such publication is as per the guidelines issued by the Central Government.
Section 3 and 4 not to apply to certain collaborative research projects.