Indian biotech records Rs 12,137 cr. Turnover

July 31, 2009 10:55 am

Indian biotech records Rs 12,137 cr. Turnover
 
India’s biotech sector, consisting of bio-agriculture, bio-pharmaceuticals and services, recorded a turnover of Rs 12,137 crore with a growth rate of 18 per cent. The exports from the sector are estimated at 60 per cent of the total turnover during 2008-09.
 
There are 370 biotech companies, and the bio-agri sector is growing at 35 per cent annually, with the services sector registering 31 per cent. The bio-cluster concept has given a fillip to the sector development.
 
Karnataka which has more than half of the biotech companies is growing at 26 per cent with revenues of Rs 2,500 crore. The state’s industry will grow further with the forward looking biotech policy, research efforts and ability to attract investment, stated Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology, government of Karnataka and CMD, Biocon Ltd.
 
The government of India, through the department of biotechnology, has committed in formulating funding to foster growth through its initiatives like Biotech Industry Partnership Programme, Biotech Industry Research Assistance Programme, along with the Small Business Innovation Research Initiative scheme to boost public-private-partnership effort and the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative financial assistance schemes. All these funding projects are playing a stellar role to boost the growth of the sector, said Mazumdar.
 
Presenting an overview of the industry at the Bangalore Bio 2009, she said that it is vital for the industry to move away from integrated innovation and look at synergies to progress by partnering in knowledge-sharing efforts. The country can play a key role in addressing global challenges of food and health insecurities. “Innovation is the only way to evade the impact of the current economic slowdown. The soon-to-be-released revised biotech policy of Karnataka will attract more investments into R&D. With this, the industry and government will achieve the goal of taking the fruits of innovation to those who need it most,” she added.