India is home to one-seventh of the world’s population, i.e. approximately 1.2 billion people. This huge population of the country saw a laudable dream of India becoming the ‘manufacturing hub’ of the world after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his ‘Make in India’ campaign. Achieving this vision is not going to be an easy task but sooner later we will get there. The good thing is that the country has already started taking its baby steps towards making this dream come true.
In recent developments, emergence of India as partner country at HANNOVER MESSE -The world’s biggest industrial fair,shows that continuous efforts are being made in crafting India as a Manufacturing Hub. A major attraction at the fair was ‘India on the threshold of becoming the next global biotech hub’.
India already has many of the necessary ingredients such as a talented and enthusiastic scientific workforce, equipments and infrastructure needed in order to grow its bio-economy. This industry can provide significant economic growth and development to the people of India and around the world and has the potential to become the jewel of the Indian economy. It has the capacity to address the substantial healthcare, food, energy, environmental and other critical issues of the country.
The Indian biotechnology sector is divided into five major segments — bio-pharma, bio-services, bio-agriculture, bio-industrial and bio-informatics. Besides, India’s biotech industry is the third largest in Asia-Pacific region and is on the cusp of entering a new era.
This has been possible due to increase in investments, outsourcing activities, exports and the government’s focus on the sector. Also, the country is able to produce a strong pool of scientists and engineers who are capable of developing cost-effective manufacturing capabilities. Moreover, concrete steps taken towards setting up of national research laboratories, centers of academic excellence and several other institutes in medical science , educational and training institutes offering degrees and diplomas in biotechnology, bio-informatics and biological sciences have given a boost to sector.
As per the statistics (from Make in India site), the sector’s market size is expected to go up to USD 11.6 Billion by 2017. This will take place due to a range of factors such as growing demand for healthcare services, intensive R&D activities and strong government initiatives, fast-developing clinical capabilities with the country becoming a popular destination for global companies for clinical trials, contract research and manufacturing activities. Furthermore, The Indian biotech industry is expected to grow at an average growth rate of around 30% a year and touch USD 100 Billion by 2025.
The biotech industry in India is being watched by ‘The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India’ and ‘The Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises’ which are two major agencies in India in biotech segment. The Department of Biotechnology has established Operational biotech parks in various parts of the country including at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Bangalore in Karnataka, Kalamassery and Kochi in Kerala, Guwahati in Assam and Chindwara in Madhya Pradesh to facilitate product development, R&D, and the development of biotechnology industrial sector.
Additionally, investments by global companies such as Limagrain (France), Endo Pharmaceuticals (USA), Sanofi Aventis (France) in pharmaceuticals are permitted up to 100% by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy.
All these factors come together to reinforce each other and produce a solid ground which represents new business potential in India in biotech sector. The industry is in the phase of witnessing huge growth in terms of revenue and is heading on an evident path to success. So, if you are looking forward to invest without associating much risk to your investment then the industry is more than eager to receive your attention. The land is filled with opportunities to become a major player in the biotechnology sector across the world!
