Karnataka government is investing Rs 16 crore for the II phase of its biotech park Bangalore Helix. The construction of the second phase will take off in two months, said Karnataka principal secretary for information technology, biotechnology and science & technology Ashok Kumar C Manoli.

The phase II will essentially comprise R&D labs, space for companies and incubators. This will help the start-up biotech sector to avail the facility. The bio-cluster in the Park is being developed on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. The institutional facility in the Park is expected to be operational by 2010-11.

Bangalore Helix designed on 106 acre will provide a fillip to the biotech sector. It will augment business growth, attract investments which will in-turn result in lucrative jobs opportunities, he added.

The Bangalore Helix phase I consisting of 6 acres was inaugurated early this year. The facility has come up in the Electronics City. Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology(IBAB) and Centre for Human Genetics are the Park’s first occupants.

Pharmabiz had earlier reported that the phase-I of the project required funds to the tune of Rs 11.5 crore which was entirely contributed by the State. This was constructed by the National Building Construction Corporation (NBBC) and architect, Jurong, Singapore. The built-up area of phase-I is 250,000 sq ft and the construction commenced in October 2006. There is also a Hostel Block and Administrative block of the Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS).

The cost of the land and institutional buildings like the IBAB and CHG, R&D labs a common instrumentation facility and an effluent treatment plant is fully funded by the state government and the government of India.

IBAB set up in 2001, has been offering Master’s and doctoral programme in bioinformatics and applied biotechnology. There are also scores of short-term courses. Another objective of the Institute is to promote and run research and incubation centres for entrepreneurs.

The Centre for Human Genetics is headed by Prof H Sharat Chandra, professor emeritus, Indian Institute of Science. The Centre which has now started operations in the Park has a large research facility for human cell transformation. A corpus fund of Rs 5 crore is made available by the state government. Research efforts include identification of thalassemia mutations prevalent in Karnataka and development of low-cost devices and procedures for its detection. It will address the existing lacunae in research and education Some of the ongoing programmes include advanced courses and workshops for scientists and clinicians in biotechnology besides ethical-legal aspects of recent advances including stem cells are included. Another effort by the Centre is that it will introduce education programmes in Kannada at the schools in district levels to attract interest in DNA and biotechnology.