NEW DELHI: With an aim to establishing India as a world class bio-manufacturing hub, the government on Wednesday launched the National Biotechnology Development Strategy, targeting a turnover of $100 billion by 2025 from $7 billion now. The key focus areas will be healthcare, food and nutrition, clean energy and education.
The strategy intends to launch a mission, backed with significant investments, for the creation of new biotech products, create a strong infrastructure for R&D and commercialization, and empower India’s human resources scientifically and technologically.
The strategy unveiled by Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan calls for ensuring strategic and focused investment in building human capital by setting up a Life Science and Biotechnology Education Council, which will spearhead the initiative.
A major component of the programme will be training of work force and this includes dual degree programmes which will cover both the aspect of core science and business applicability. It will also focus on enhancing research opportunities in basic, disciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences, foster global and national alliances.
Under the programme research will be intensified in the field of vaccines, humane genome, infectious and chronic diseases, crop science, animal agriculture and aqua culture, food and nutrition, environmental management and technologies for clean energy.
The mission is also backed with significant investments to boost creation of new biotech products, creating a strong infrastructure for research and development, commercialization, and empowering human resources scientifically and technologically.
“The strategy calls for creating a Technology Development and Translation network across the country with global partnership-5 new clusters, 40 Biotech incubators, 150 technology transfer offices, 20 Bio-connect centres ,” said Renu Swarup, an advisor to DBT.