The Andhra Pradesh government has signed 29 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and issued 12 letters of intent (LoIs) for a total investment of Rs 17,204 crore at the CII-sponsored Partnership Summit which concluded in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Out of these 29 projects, there are 10 biotechnology projects, which is accounted for a total of Rs 558 crore investment. One of the major projects in these is the Bio Genius India's Rs 300 crore project to set up a biotechnology unit for prawn fertilizers and ethanol at Kakinada.

The other projects include manufacture of bulk bio-pharmaceuticals by Micro Biomed Products (Rs 72 crore), discovery of anti-cancer molecules by Onconova Therapeutics (Rs 50 crore), medical/diagnostic facilities by Amcare Labs International (Rs 25 crore), stem cell research and maternity hospital by the Singapore-based Pacific Health Care Ltd (Rs 50 crore), healthcare facilities by Sandoor Medicare (Rs 15 crore), manufacture of Alpha Interferon by Activa Biotech (Rs 14 crore), manufacture of fatty acids by ABL Biotechnologies (Rs 12 crore), expansion of the Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park at Thorkapally in Hyderabad at an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore and sanction of Rs 10 crore by Andhra Bank to the APIDC Venture Capital Fund to promote biotechnology units.

This will be the first biotechnology focused venture capital fund to be launched in India. With the state government's commitment of Rs 15 crore, the fund has accomplished Rs 25 crore and is targeting a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore.