The department of biotechnology (DBT) is expected to announce a National Bioinformatics Policy in early September 2004. The 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.

Dr. A S Kolaskar, vice chancellor, Pune University informed that this Bioinformatics Policy is going to be the first-of-its-kind initiative in the world. Through the policy, the Bioinformatics industry in India will be able to clock a turnover of $2 billion by 2007, the end of the 10th Plan.

Dr. Kolaskar, who was here in the city for the Bangalore Bio 2004 as the chairperson of the session titled IT Enabled biotech Research and Development, stated that 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 are being co-ordinated before the final policy is framed.

With a view to emphasise Bioinformatics education, the policy proposes to develop centres of excellence in Bioinformatics like the Pune University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indian Institute of Science, Bose Institute and Madurai Kamaraj University, which will receive a funding allocation of Rs 2.5 crore under the 10th Plan.

The policy also envisages the establishment of an International Institute of Bioinformatics. There are also initiatives to develop broadband connectivity and setting up of a consortium of academies.

With India's success in Information Technology, Dr. Kolaskar stated that the next boon in the country would be for Bioinformatics. "There is no doubt that IT skills would give a fillip to scores of biotechnology and pure science graduates who would pursue in the field," he informed.

The policy also proposes inter and intra ministerial co-ordinations at various levels, which is for holding discussions for setting up Bioinformatics parks across the country. An Indian Biodiversity Information Network is being set-up to integrate all biotechnology related databases and developing a portal, he stated.

Yet another initiative, which is being proposed, is the integration of all small databases developed different companies, which are scattered so that it would be of better use in the drug discovery efforts of the country, he added.