Visakhapatnam will soon have a Marine Biotech Park modelled on lines of Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park in Hyderabad. While the SP Biotech Park focuses mainly on pharma companies, the state government has taken up the task of developing a marine biotech park in Visakhapatnam.

The government is in the process of short-listing developers on the lines of the SP Biotech Park, which is a public-private initiative, according to D N Mohan, Director (Biotechnology), State Industries and Commerce Department.

Like the SP Biotech Park, private companies would be allocated land and they would enjoy sales tax concessions and other incentives in the proposed Marine Biotech Park also, but the overall focus would be on development of marine resources using the latest biotechnology methods. Already the US-based Biogenus Inc, promoted by a non-resident Indian hailing from Andhra Pradesh, has evinced interest in taking 60 acres of land for a major project it was planning in the country.

The state government is already supporting the development of a Centre of Excellence in Marine Biotech Resources Development at the Andhra University based in Visakhapatnam. The AU has a strong focus on marine sciences. Plans are to locate the new centre in the Marine Biotech Park, according to Mohan.

The AU Centre would work on the development of a vaccine to prevent shrimp disease, which has been playing havoc with the fortunes of the farmers and exporters, and research on marine foods and fisheries. The University of Mahidol in Thailand, with whom the state government had signed an MoU recently at the Bio-2003 in Washington, would be involved in the research project as it has the expertise.

In addition to providing infrastructural support to the marine biotech park tenants, the AU Marine Biotech Resources Centre would be actively involved in assisting them with scientific and technological support as and when required.