India has 6,300+ Biotech Startups and $80bn industry, says Dr Jitendra Singh
Biotechnology has the potential to become an important instrument of global trade and bio-economy contributing to India’s overall economy, says Minister of State for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh said on 4 Nov 2023.
Launching the website of “Global Bio-India – 2023”, an international congregation on Biotechnology, to be held at Pragati Maidan from 4-6 Dec 2023.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, “Our Bioeconomy witnessed double digit growth rate year-on-year and India is now being rated among top 12 biotechnology destinations in the world.”
The industry has grown to US$80 billion today from US$10 billion in 2014.
“Biotechnology sector in India has evolved over the last three decades and has made significant contributions to various sectors including Health, Medicine, Agriculture, Industry and Bio-Informatics,” he said.
He also pointed out that Biotech Start-Ups are crucial to India’s future economy.
“Biotech Startups have grown 100 times in the last 8 years to 6,300 plus presently from 52 odd in 2014,” he said.
Biotechnology is the technology of tomorrow as IT has already reached its saturation point, he added.
India has a huge wealth of bioresources, an unsaturated resource waiting to be harnessed and an advantage in Biotechnology especially due to the vast biodiversity and the unique bioresources in the Himalayas. Then there is the 7,500 kms long coastline and last year we launched the Samudrayaan which is going to dig the biodiversity beneath the seas.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Biotechnology Startups is a different genre combining new research of Biology and Manufacturing, viz processing of living systems such as micro-organisms, self-cultures etc.
There are over 3,000 Agritech Startups and are very successful in areas like Aroma Mission and Lavender cultivation.
“About 4,000 people are engaged with Lavender cultivation and earning lakhs of rupees, quite a few of them do not have high qualifications, but are very innovative,” he said.
The Department of Biotechnology has been supporting R&D innovations in Advanced Biofuels and ‘Waste to Energy’ technologies.
“In the future, garbage will be reduced to Zero. Everything will be recycled,” he said, citing the recycling technology developed by the Dehra Dun based Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP) by designing a van that collects waste cooking oil and converts it into biofuel. Fiinews.com
