Taken over recently as new principal secretary to Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, Dr Anup K Pujari has assessed that the annual Bangalore Bio exposition and its growing interest among national and international participants has had a significant impact. However, he maintains a cautious optimism that only time will tell this kind of interest can be converted into lucrative investmentopportunities for Karnataka. Excerpts from an interview with Nandita Vijay.
You have recently taken over as the IT-BT secretary and will host Asia's largest biotech exposition, Bangalore Bio 2006, which has built up an international image. What is your perception of the biotechnology industry in the State?
Bangalore Bio is now recognised as a major event because it has brought both Bangalore and Karnataka into the limelight. The event, which is being held since 2001, has seen incremental changes in terms of the programme agenda. Although the event has been into its sixth year it has never run into any controversy. This shows the growing interest and high opinion of the organisers, participants and visitors. The Karnataka government's initiative has ensured that there is a significant continuity. This year, the observance of the Agri-biotech day portrays the concerted effort by the government to take on the agricultural issues in terms of increasing crop productivity and better measures to fight
pest control.
In what way thegovernment benefits from the event?
The event has several dimensions and has been a major crowd-puller. This ensures that there is considerable amount of discussion for development which will take time to shape up primarily because the biotechnology sector is known for its long gestation period. On the government's benefit from the event, it is quite evident that Bangalore Bio has resulted in important meetings with international participants. For the people of the state and city, the event is an opportunity to see the commercially viable advancements in technologies, processes and services. The conferences will highlight the developments, allow speakers to showcase the results of a research or deliberate on various issues pertaining to the sector. There is no doubt the government's outlook on the event is positive as it is known to create a conducive opportunity to exhibit talent of the state and country in biotechnology.
Bangalore is known as the biotechnology capital and the city has created a bio-cluster. In your opinion what are the key strengths of Karnataka in biotechnology?
I am hesitant to comment on the titles `biotech capital' or comment on the city's biotech prowess in terms of the having the highest number of units in the country. But the general impression is that the city's entrepreneurs have pioneered biotechnology revolution through aggressive, quick thinking strategies and farsightedness which needs to be appreciated. Take the case of Indo-American hybrid seeds. It is not that hybrid seeds were not available in the state, but the company's outlook in creating a lucrative venture made the difference. Similarly it is the bio-entrepreneurs who have developed potential business models which saw both new products and job opportunities. It is these initiatives which have definitely given a fillip to biotechnology development in the state. Of course, this was supported with the climate, connectivity, cosmopolitan culture and availability resourceful scientific manpower from the research institutes of Indian Institute of Science and the National Centre for Biological Sciences, pharmacy, biotechnology and medical colleges. Another observation is that the synergy of IT (information technology) and BT has also supported the growth of the sector. In biotechnology research, biometric functions call for numerically controlled applications, which are supported with IT. Coming to the bio-cluster creation, Bangalore has naturally adopted to the 'Economics of Agglomeration'. The city's economic geography has led to a concentration of biotech activity agglomerate in the region. The creation of economic clusters of biotech units is because of the increasing returns under monopolistic competition and generation of strategic alliances.
What, according to you, are the problems in the sector?
High real estate cost makes land unaffordable for biotech projects. This is a big concern but this cannot stifle the growth because it can be offset with availability of qualified manpower and the bio cluster effect in the city. But a serious issue that will affect the development of the biotech sector is the lack of animal testing facility and regulations, which would discourage global majors from investing.
There is also no large animal test house in the state where research could be outsourced. This is a major stumbling block on which an entrepreneur will have no control for the delay in the drug development. The ethics in animal testing have to be drafted lest the activists are liable to delay the progress of the research.
What does the future hold for the sector?
The state government is optimistic going by the developments so far. The government has been doing a lot to encourage other industries in terms of fiscal benefits but in the case of IT and BT not much hand holding was required. The sectors have developed with talent and tenacity of individuals.