The central government is supporting Karnataka with two major biotech projects and has chipped in Rs.20 crore to set up the Bioscience and Medical Technology Incubation Centre in Karnataka. Besides, it has also received a proposal from the state government for the setting up of the Biosynthetic Technology Institute here.

For the Bioscience and Medical Technology Incubation Centre, the total cost of the facility which is being set up in the Alexandria Helix Biotech Park, Electronics City, in Bengaluru is Rs.40 crore.

The Union government had earlier invested Rs.14 crore but now enhanced another Rs.6 crore to take the total to Rs.20 crore from fund assistance for this project, informed SR Patil, Karnataka minister for information technology, biotechnology and science & technology.

The facility is a 20,000 sq. feet area for which the civil works are over and the interiors are underway. The Incubation Centre will be inaugurated by June this year, he added.

From its end, the state government has provided the land and invested Rs.20 crore. Therefore there has been an equal contribution from both the State and Centre. This is a first-of-its-kind facility in the country which will house young entrepreneurs who could immediately start operations as it is designed as a plug & play unit, Patil said.

In fact the model of the Bioscience and Medical Technology Incubation Centre was unveiled here by the Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah.

The State Government has also announced setting up of a US$ 10 million Bio-Venture Fund, to cater to certain hi-tech areas with strong social relevance, such as transgenics, stem cell biology etc. The intention of State Government is quite clear. We would like to see a booming economy led by the knowledge sectors. “We believe in realistic, practical and workable policies. Several initiatives announced by the State Government are already under implementation as a result of the practical policies,” the minister said.

The facility will transform the startup environment in the country. Already the state is known as the start-up hub of the country. The presence of research centres provides access to technology transfer, said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.

In the case of the Biosynthetic Technology Institute, the Vision Group on Biotechnology in Karnataka and the state government have jointly proposed this to the government. There are two other states Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh vying for this project, said Srivatsa Krishna, secretary, Karnataka department of IT, BT and S&T.

“For the Biosynthetic Technology Institute, Karnataka has a high chance to get clearance for the project going by the biotech activities in the state,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology and CMD, Biocon Ltd.

Around 26 per cent of the biotech revenues of the country, particularly in terms of exports, are generated by the companies from Karnataka. The State is home to about 52 per cent of the core biotech companies in the country. More over out of the top 10 Biotech companies in the country, five are located in Bangalore. Bengaluru which is recognized as the IT capital of the country has now emerged as the Science Capital of India, primarily driven by its biotech and pharma sectors.