BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Health, Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said the Ministry would look into the proposal for setting up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) on marine biotechnology at the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar.
Addressing the 32nd Foundation Day of ILS, Dr Vardhan said exploration of marine resources is now the area of focus to strengthen the blue economy for which India has planned to launch its ambitious ‘Deep Ocean Mission’.
“The mission envisages exploration of minerals, energy and marine diversity of the underwater world, a vast part of which still remains unexplored. An allocation of over Rs 4,000 crore over the next five years has been provisioned for the mission,” he said.
The Minister said since Odisha has a vast coastline having a diverse marine ecosystem, the proposal for a CoE at Bhubaneswar seems feasible and timely.
He assured to look at it very positively and discuss with all stakeholders to take a final call soon. Appreciating the contribution of institutes like ILS for making the country self reliant in managing COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Vardhan said India has already sent vaccines to 23 countries and more than 40 countries are demanding Indian vaccines.
This is greatest achievement in recent times, he said. Union PNG and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who had proposed the CoE in Odisha said, the ILS should focus on marine biotechnology as Odisha has tremendous opportunity for improving the economy and ecology of the State in partnership with other institutions.
Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology Renu Swarup highlighted the progress made by ILS particularly in the area of tribal health and nutrition using a multi-omics approach which will have far reaching implications.
ILS Director Dr Ajay Parida also spoke. On the occasion, Dr Vardhan launched the Himalayan Bioresources Mission, which will carry out advanced research on five verticals - agriculture, horticulture, medicinal and aromatic plants, livestock and microbial resources.
He also laid the foundation stone for the animal challenge study platform at ILS for undertaking evaluation studies of potential drug and vaccine candidates. He inaugurated the Biorepository for the Covid-19 clinical samples.
The ILS and Institute of Bio resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) partnership centre that aims at skill and capacity development of scientific communities of the North East region in the area of advanced biotechnology was also dedicated by the Minister.