(THE GIST OF PIB) Mobile Biosafety level-3 Laboratory

(JUNE-2025)

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is in the process of adding to its Mobile Biosafety level-3 (MBSL-3) laboratory capacity to enhance India’s outbreak response capabilities and strengthen public health delivery.

It is also known as Rapid Action Mobile BSL-3 Advanced Augmented Network (RAMBAAN).
It is a fully indigenous and sophisticated Mobile BSL-3 ‘laboratory on wheels’, first deployed in response to the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala in 2023.
It is developed under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission in collaboration with Klenzaids Contamination Controls Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai.
It’s classified as a Type-IV Rapid Response Mobile Laboratory in the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network classification.

It is designed to maintain a negative air pressure environment, and is equipped with an advanced heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system with HEPA filters.
It also features a double door autoclave and a biological liquid effluent decontamination (BLED) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) fogger system for biological waste management.
The MBSL-3 was validated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune in 2022-2023, including onsite and on-field validation.