India's biotech sector consisting of bio agriculture, biopharmaceuticals and services recorded a turnover of Rs 12,137 crore with a growth rate of 18 per cent. The exports from the sector is estimated at 60 per cent of the total turnover during 2008-09.

There are 370 biotech companies in the country. The bio agri sector is growing at 35 per cent annually with the services sector registering 31 per cent. The bio cluster concept has given a fillip to the sector development. Karnataka which has more than half of the biotech companies in the country is growing at 26 per cent with revenues of Rs 2500 crore. The state's industry will grow further with the forward looking biotech policy, research efforts and ability to attract investment, stated Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology, government of Karnataka and CMD, Biocon Limited.

The biotech industry should look at achieving sustainable growth. This can be achieved only through cross border partnerships and adequate funding to take the industry to the next level of growth, she added.

The government of India through the department of biotechnology has committed in formulating funding to foster growth through its initiatives like Biotech Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP), Biotech Industry Research Assistance Programme (BIRAP) along with the Small Business Innovation Research Initiative (SBIRI) scheme to boost public-private-partnership effort and New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) financial assistance schemes. All these funding projects are playing a stellar role to boost the growth of the sector, she said. .

Presenting the overview of the industry at the inauguration of the Bangalore Bio 2009, Shaw said that it is vital for the industry to move away from integrated innovation and look at synergies to progress by partnering in knowledge-sharing efforts. The country can play a key role in addressing the global challenges of food and health insecurities. "To achieve this goal, we need to innovate. Innovation is the only way to evade the impact of the current economic slow down. The soon to be released revised Biotech Policy of Karnataka will attract more investments into R&D. With this, industry and government will achieve the goal of taking the fruits of innovation to those who need it most," said Shaw.

According to Ashok Kumar C Manoli, principal secretary IT, BT and ST, government of Karnataka, Bangalore Bio is offering new additions every year. This year's thrust is on BioPartnering with special focus on B2B. State government is playing a proactive role in encouraging the industry and giving budget support to complete Biotech Park in Bangalore.