Karnataka government has approved the Biotech Policy version 3 for 2017-22. The objective of the policy is to give a further impetus to the growth of the sector.
Currently, there is a huge potential for the biotech sector in the state and Bangalore has created a biotech cluster for itself. There is research and manufacture, besides bioinformatics, diagnostic kit development and genomics taking place across start-up enterprises and large companies.
The state was the first in the country to introduce a biotech policy in 2001 and then came in the Millennium Biotech policy spanning 2014 to 2018 and this was the version 2. But going by the pace of development and the adoption of big data analytics, mobile devices, sensors technology, robotics Internet of Things (IoT), and that are currently driving business innovation, there was a need to move up with a dynamic of social media and cloud computing which spurred the need for version 3 of a biotech policy, according to industry observers.
The policy encourages investments in new technology platforms of life sciences for effective multi-disciplinary collaborations. It envisions more streamlined financial incentives and concessions for larger investments.
According to Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra, the aim is to encourage R&D in emerging technology areas, such as synthetic biology, diagnosis and management of rare diseases, anti-microbial resistance, aqua-marine biotechnology, animal biotechnology, bio-manufacturing, and development of affordable medical devices, to foster the bio-economy growth.
With regard to start-ups, the policy would institute funding mechanisms and mentorship programmes to stimulate innovations that not only aid the development of the bio-economy, but also benefit the society as a whole. In 2015, the State captured 35% which is Rs.44,250 crore of the total revenue of Rs.1,26,700 crore generated by the biotechnology in the country. With the new policy, the objective is to capture a larger share of the predicted $100 billion or Rs.6,80,000 crore bio-economy market in India and the $775 billion or Rs.50,00,000 crore worldwide bio-economy market, he added.
With India’s population expected to reach 1.5 billion by 2030 that add up to the billions of animals and the ever-dwindling resources, the need of the hour is to develop new bio and other technological innovations,” said Karnataka minister for IT & BT.