Maharashtra
Following its biotech policy, Maharashtra government decided to set up a pharma biotech park at Hinjewadi in Pune with 136-acre area and an Agro biotech park at Jalna with 100-acre area. The Hinjewadi Park is set adjacent to the IT Park - a key input for a knowledge industry. In May 2003, a joint venture was between MIDC & The Chatterjee Group (TCG) to develop, promote and market the International Hinjewadi Biotech Park, in Pune. TCG proposed a "Dumbbell-strategy" for the Park where there would be two anchor facilities at either end of the Park. These facilities would be the Core Shared Facility and Medico Clinical Research Facility.
The Park proposes strategic alliances with other healthcare facilities for providing clinical trials. Space between the ends of the "Dumbbell" will have plots/ built up space for sale/lease to tenants. The park will have basic infrastructure such as roads (main & inlet), water, power, Common Effluent Treatment Plant, Water Treatment Plant (WTP), Core Shared Facility (Research Centre, Bioinformatics Lab, Genomics & Proteomics Lab, Discovery Labs - Chemistry & Bio Labs, Pre-clinical & Clinical Labs, Analytical Lab's), Business Facilitation Centre (Health Club, Cafeteria, Entertain-ment Complex etc), Residential complex, Service Apartments, Built to suit units (tenant desired made to order units).
Industries and institutions targeted are pharma and biotech companies, clinical trial labs, Contract Research Organisations (CROs), Bioinformatic Centres, Vaccine Production Units, Analytical Lab's, and Medical Centres etc.
Gujarat
The Gujarat State Board of Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) is promoting a Pharmaceutical Techno Park at Changodar near Ahmedabad. The Techno Park, which is in a 300 lakh sq. meter area, can accommodate 40 formulation and pharma related units except bulk drugs with latest technology facilities. Each plot will be of 5000 sq yards. The IDMA GSB is currently negotiating with the private land-owners to acquire the required land at the industrial area of Changodar as the state government could not provide the land near the proposed Science City in Ahmedabad as it was decided earlier.
Karnataka
The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna several months back unveiled foundation stone for the proposed park "Bangalore Helix". Banga-lore Helix is expected to come up on a 75-acre campus next to the Electronics City on the Bangalore-Chennai national highway.
The State IT Department is also planning to shift the Institute of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology to the new park which would have a common testing facility to be set up at a cost of Rs 50 crore, said Mr Vivek Kulkarni, Secretary IT and BT, Government of Karnataka.
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh has a dominant position in the bulk drug and pharmaceutical industry with roughly one third of the country's bulk drugs produced in and around Hyderabad. With its rich bio-resources, the state Government has decided to facilitate the development and has announced several concessions for industry in this sector through the State Biotechnology Policy 2001.
In pursuance of the above policy, the Shapoorji Pallonji biotech Park is being set up in the serene surrounding of the genome Valley, which covers an area of 600 Sq. Kms., to provide high quality infrastructure for the Biotech industry. The first phase of the Biotech park covers an area of approximate 142 acres and an additional 290 acres would be developed in the next phase.
The park is being developed by the Shapoorji Pallonji Construction limited, a name at the fore front of the country's construction and infrastructure industry; a company that is proud of its past and also has its eye firmly set on the future
Having completed phase-I and phase-II successfully, ICICI Knowledge Park at Turkapally, near Hyde-rabad, is all set to launch phase-III. The state government will release Rs 5 crore and the work will start by October/ November. The state government's commitment came from Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu during his talks with N Vaghul, Chairman, ICICI Knowledge Park, R A Mashelkar, Director-General of CSIR, and Ahsok S Ganguly, Director-General of ICMR, both Directors of the Park's Board.
Deepanwita Chhatopadhyaya, CEO, said all the 10 modules in the first phase had been occupied. In the second phase, all the 16 modules had been booked. While three had occupied already, seven companies would be moving in by November and the rest by March 2004. She said Rs 40 crore had been invested so far on the project. Asked about the progress of the Park so far she said the last two years had been promising and the coming two years would be very important as more and more companies would be investing in biotechnology.
The companies that have already set up units in the Park include GVK Biosciences, Matrix Laboratories, Optiwave Photonics, Bioserve Biotec-hnologies, Krebs Biochemicals, Sai Dru Syn Laboratories, Indigene Pharmaceuticals, Helvetica Pharmaceuticals, Bijam Biosciences and IICT. In addition, the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corpn (APIDC) ha s set up a Patent Facilitating Cell in the Park.
Kerala
The Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA), the state Government agency responsible for developing industry specific parks, is setting up two mega biotechnology parks in the state, at Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
While the Kerala Biotechnology Park will come up at Kalamassery near Kochi on a 50-acre plot, the park at Thiruvananthapuram will be a 25-acre facility housed within the premises of the KINFRA Apparel Park coming up near Thumba.
Both the parks have been identified to give thrust for developing immuno diagnostics and vaccines in the healthcare sector, tissue culture and extraction of medicinal plants in the agri-biotech sector, bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers, besides enzymes in the industrial biotech sector.
The parks are planned to be a combination of the Technology Incubation Centre (TIC), pilot plant and an exclusive Business Enterprising Zone (BEZ). While the TIC's will provide the modules for research and development in biotechnology, the BEZ's consists of developed plots to be utilized for setting up the units.
At the Thumba Kerala Biotechnology Park, the TIC and related facilities will be located on a land area of around four acres and the balance 21 acres will be used as BEZ, divided into one-acre plots.
At Kalamassery, KINFRA has already acquired a 50-acre plot behind the HMT company premises, and that area would be utilized for developing the Kerala Biotechnology Park's BEZ at Kochi.
Tamil Nadu
The Tidco Centre for Life Sciences (TICEL Bio Park), the first of its kind project in the country, promoted by the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corpo-ration (TIDCO) in collaboration and technical assistance from the Cornell University, US, will be commissioned by early next year.
This was announced by State Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa at seminar on 'Emerging Oppor-tunities -Tamilnadu, in Chennai, recently. According to various sources, the TICEL Bio Park, coming up at the information technology corridor at Taramani in the suburbs of Chennai at an investment of over Rs.62 crore on a 1.20 lakh sq.ft. area, was scheduled for commissioning by August this year, as per the initial plan.
The Bio Park is envisaged to focus on bio-generics, health, agriculture and food processing units, and over 30 units are likely to come up in its initial phase. The park will house wet labs with latest equipment for R and D in biotechnology, fermentation lab, including microbiology, plant tissue culture lab and downstream processing laboratory.
The park is expected to offer immense possibilities for commercial exploitation in the areas of pharmaceuticals, food supplements and cosmetics, as smaller firms in the park are expected to develop drugs and pharmaceuticals for regional diseases, bigger companies will look at a larger canvas.
TIDCO has invested about Rs. 9 crore in the park as equity component, and other funds have been mobilized through Rs.20 crore of subordinated debt and Rs.33 crore in loans from banks and other financial institutions.
Uttar Pradesh
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has embarked on a novel initiative to promote the growth of biotech industry in the country. The agency is in the process of working out the entire plan for a new biotech park in Lucknow and is to develop it as a model to be emulated by other states. What is unique in the DBT initiative is that, unlike the usual practice of governments' earmarking a patch of land to be developed as a biotech park and then going about marketing the park, the agency has begun with assured presence of leading biotech companies and then gone for the identification of land.
Dr V K Vinayak, advisor, DBT said the department had received written assurance from three companies, Shantha Biotech, Bharat Biotech and Crest Biotech, to set up manufacturing facility in the biotech park coming up in Lucknow. "It was after identifying the potential companies, we started planning the biotech park. Now the government of Uttar Pradesh has allotted eight acres of land for the purpose in Lucknow. We are in the process of developing the land now. DBT would also set up an incubator facility also in the park", he informed.
The department is putting in Rs five crore towards the initial expenditure for setting up the incubator facility. It plans to spend Rs 14 crore for the development of the Lucknow Biotech Park.