The department of biotechnology (DBT)'s pioneering programmes like the Small Business Innovation Research Initiative (SBIRI) and the Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP), which helped push the private expenditure in the research activities in the recent past, have come in for praise from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology.

“The Committee commends the DBT on very encouraging results achieved from its SBIRI and BIPP programmes. The Committee is pleased to note that SBIRI programmes have led to development of 20 technologies out of which six had already been commercialised,” the committee observed.

“The success and popularity of BIPP programme is evident from the fact that 60 per cent of costs of projects undertaken under the programme have been funded by private sector. The Committee recommends that Department should take large number of projects under these programme so that a large base of biotech industries is established in the country and greater private sectors investment flows in R&D in biotechnology, apart from substantially increasing India’s share in global trade in biotechnology,” said the panel headed by Dr T Subbarami Reddy in its recent report.

SBIRI is the pioneering programme of the department that supports R&D, process and product development in the biotech industry. The Department had so far received more than 900 proposals and had sanctioned 105 projects under the scheme. Around 540 industries throughout the country had approached the Department seeking support under the scheme and presently 82 projects were in operation.

Similarly, the BIPP for high risk innovation research had been funded in partnership with the industry since 2010-2011. So far 102 projects have been approved and agreements signed with 85 companies with a commitment of Rs.777.00 crore, out of which the Department’s contribution under BIPP was Rs.288.00 crore only, whereas the contribution of the private sector companies was Rs.489.00 crore. Therefore, the private sector contribution is nearly 60 per cent as compared to 40 per cent by the Government.