The National Biotechnology Development Strategy-2014 (Biotech Strategy II) proposes to strengthen industrial biotechnology in the country with a vision to produce 20 per cent of India’s bulk chemicals by biocatalysis/bioprocessing technologies.

It also envisions to create at least 10 companies that have a combined turnover of at least Rs. 15,000 crore per year based on substantially indigenous IP; to create 2 million industry ready biotechnology manpower; and also to increase DBT’s funding to do industrial research to 50 per cent of its budget up to 2020.

The Biotech Strategy II was issued recently by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) to establish India as a world class bio-manufacturing hub for developing and developed markets.

To achieve this vision, the DBT will create platform technology centers critical for growth with proper governance structures to enable access and will give specific requests for proposals and generous funding for large consortiums of industry and academia for targeted product development.

In this direction, the DBT during the next years will set up five technology platform centres. This could be achieved by setting up multi-disciplinary centres around existing academic centres of excellence in collaboration with industry. These centres should have clearly defined goals and deliverables and should be mandated to provide access of their resources to both academia and industry.

The DBT will focus on research and identify products and fund at least four large consortium grants. This could be envisaged by setting up centres “around” existing academic institutions in collaboration with industry. This should be mission based, should draw existing strengths of academic institutions and industry around it.

Besides, the DBT will set up technology development centres within existing academic institutes as Section 25 companies with focus on biochemicals/biofuels; therapeutic/diagnostic biotechnology; and bioremediation.

These centres could be given responsibility of identifying, funding and networking with, several satellite pockets of excellence wherein specific sub- tasks of a given technology can be worked upon depending on the expertise at the pocket. These centres will also work closely work with industries and pilot test the technologies, developed by the centres or elsewhere, at a reasonable scale and engage desirous industry to assist them to take the developed technologies to commercialisation. The 4-5 centres will be advised/governed by a single central committee set up by the DBT that will decide the technology priorities from time to time.