Karnataka's much-awaited Biotech Park foundation stone will be laid during the Bangalore Bio 2003, an international biotech extravaganza to held here between April 15-17. The Park is coming up in the Phase III of the Electronic City on 75 acres of land given by the Karnataka Industrial and Area Development Board (KIADB).

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, head of Vision Group on biotechnology, government of Karnataka and chairman and managing director, Biocon India group said that the concrete plans of setting up the Park will be unveiled during the Bangalore Bio 2003. The government of Karnataka and the State's Vision Group on Biotechnology will present a clear picture on the kind of facilities that the Park is excepted to offer. The whole project will take about two years to actually physically come up, she added.

At a meeting held by State government and the Biotechnology Vision Group members on February 13, 2003, Shaw informed that it was essentially to endorse the details of the project.

About the location of the Biotech Park, Shaw informed, "We had to find a venue which was essentially unencumbered unlike our early attempts of identifying land near the Indian Institute of Science in the vicinity of the University of Agricultural Sciences Hebbal which eventually ran into trouble. We opted for KIADB land because it is an easier way to justify the genuineness of documents for companies who will be taking up a place here."

The Biotech Park is essentially a research hub with a good cluster of companies to enable cross-licensing research arrangements. There is a lot of interest evinced by the information technology companies to be located in the Park to pursue in to Bioinformatics. "We are also looking at pharma companies to pursue their research activities here," said Shaw.

According to Shaw, the investment for setting up the Park will be in the excess of Rs.10 crore. The State government is quite serious about the Park and will be responsible for the creation of the central facility like labs, conference halls and the relocation of the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) which is currently operating at the ITPL in Whitefield. The government is also expected to raise bonds to support the venture, she informed.