The Centre will be announcing the first-ever National Biotechnology policy in January 2005. The department of Biotechnology has initiated the process and the policy is currently being formulated to address all issues of the biotechnology industry including biotech parks; legal issues and monitoring procedures.

A joint team representing the ministries of Health, Science and Technology and Environment are engaged in formulating the policy which will be a consensus document with solutions to the numerous regulatory stumbling blocks that are hindering the industry's progress. There will also be concrete recommendations on the intellectual property (IP) issues as well, informed Kapil Sibal, minister for science and technology at a press conclave prior to the inauguration of the Biocon's subsidiary Syngene International's new research and development facility.

The minister for science and technology further stated that the government would also announce the Bioinformatics policy in May 2005. The Bioinformatics Policy is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the world by India. The policy, which was expected to be announced in September-end has been delayed because of the formulation of the National Biotech Policy apart from the several rounds of co-ordinations that are gong on before the final policy is framed, he informed.

The Bioinformatics policy, which has its first draft ready, has been devised with inter ministerial inputs from the ministry of communication's department of Information Technology and ministry of Science and Technology as well as interactions with around 25 industry leaders.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has set up a Task Force and is co-ordinating with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Science and Technology and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to speed up the policy guidelines of both the National Biotechnology Policy and the Bioinformatics Policy.

During his interaction with the Association of Biotechnology Led Entrepreneurs, (ABLE) in Bangalore, the minister stated that all issues pertaining to the biotech sector would be addressed at the earliest. He expects the industry to touch a turnover of $1 billion end of the year.

On the issue of funding the 96 budding entrepreneurs from the biotechnology sector, the minister stated that it would be difficult to approve the biotech seed capital fund. His ministry has developed a business model where the government helps to provide technology transfer free of cost and get equity in the company. Once the industry made profits, it would be re-plough the proceeds and help it to move ahead through a private-public partnerships. He also recommended a four-way partnership where the lab, academia entrepreneur and State government team-up to promote the industry.

Regarding the IPR issue he informed that India would be a WTO compliant country in January 2005 having a law in place.

There will be easier procedures for clearances not just for micro-organisms and chemicals but also for enzymes and other products that are fragile cannot withstand delays in transporting.

The government would also devise a regulatory framework for clearances. At present the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) plays a regulatory role for approvals. The government will soon have a single window agency for clearances of regulatory issues with inter ministerial collaborations which will help to clear all relevant applications in one go.

The minister further showed great concern about the human resources in the biotech sector. He expects a major demand-supply gap as the industry grows. "There is an immediate need to encourage biotechnology courses. We need both graduates and experts who can add value to deal with issues that affect the sector. We need to make huge investments in the area of science institutions discussions are on with the ministry of human resources in this regard," he opined.

The Union Government would encourage biotech in the same manner as the information technology sector. Industries that come up in the special economic zones would be given cent per cent exemption from import duty and service tax. It would also encourage Foreign Direct Investment in the biotechnology sector which will provide the much-needed fillip as it would send the right signals to investors keen to set up companies in India. "Unless, we invest in biotechnology, we cannot resolve the issues for food and drugs in the country," he added.