B’lore India Bio kicks off

B’lore India Bio kicks off

Bangalore, June 2, DHNS

The tenth edition of Bangalore Bio, annual biotech conference in India, Bangalore India Bio 2010, was inaugurated by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa here, on Tuesday.

Yeddyurappa said “The year 2010 is very significant for the conference as we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of Bangalore Bio. The event has pan-India significance and the new name ‘Bangalore India Bio’ itself indicates the same.”

Further, he said, the biotech sector in Karnataka enjoys comfortable position in terms of growth and revenues. The government has already announced several fiscal incentives and concessions for the sector in the ‘Millennium Biotech Policy.’ “We have also proposed a Bio-Venture fund of $10 million and also plan to start 10 BT finishing schools to groom the industry ready biotech professionals.”

The State government would set up biotech parks in Mysore, Mangalore, Dharwad and Bidar. Bio-cluster part of Bangalore Biotech Park would be developed in the PPP (Public Private Partnership) mode and the process of selecting the developer is in the final stage, he added.

Karnataka had added 11 BT firms over the 12 months while rest of India added 32 firms. The state attracted investments of Rs 1,500 crore in the last one year. The chief minister also handed over letter of intent to Manipal Institute of Life Science and Dayanada Sagar Institute to start Biotech finishing school.

Steady growth

Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said the country’s biotech industry is on its growth trajectory. In the financial year 2010 the revenue from biotech sector was around was around $3 billion and the ancillary industries registered revenue of around $1 billion. She said the overall revenue from the sector was about Rs 18,500 crore which is about $4 billion and expect to cross the $5 billion mark soon.

Further, she said, climate change and clean energy were turning out to be huge opportunities for the sector. Karnataka constitutes 50 per cent of BT firms in India. Out of 380 BT companies in India, 198 are in Karnataka, she added.