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Biotech:
Bangalore Stays on Top
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Karnataka Received A Total Of $250 Million Investments Last Year
Namma Bengaluru continues to maintain its position as the country's
biotechnology (BT) capital.
Out of the 24 international biotechnology firms that set foot in India
in 2007-08, 12 of them chose Bangalore as their base. The industry
in Karnataka saw an investment of over $250 million last year. The
state now has close to 190 of the 350 biotech firms in the country.
As per figures announced by Karnataka's IT/BT secretary Ashok Kumar
Manoli at Bangalore BIO 2008 here on Thursday, India's BT market currently
stands at $3 billion, of which Karnataka's share is over 40%. While
the national growth rate of the BT sector is 30%, Karnataka is estimated
to be witnessing a higher growth ranging between 35% and 40%. Further,
of the $1.5 billion exports that the Indian BT sector does, Karnataka
contributes 60% of it.
"Karnataka has many benefits that other states in the country
don't enjoy -lower costs, a talented workforce that is fluent in English,
and a proactive government," said Sudhakar Rao, chief secretary,
Karnataka government.
The state expects to see further growth in investments with the opening
of the Bangalore Helix, a biotechnology park spread over 100 acres
near Electronics City.
"The first phase of the park will be ready shortly. The building
of the second phase will commence this year at a cost of $100 million,"
Manoli said.
Karnataka has also set up a venture fund for the biotech sector and
introduced a new initiative called RICH (Research Industry Collaboration
Hub). RICH aims to help start-up companies present their business
plans to potential investors as well as help the industry in scaling
up their operations through M&A deals, collaborations and investments.
The biotechnology sector had achieved 35 per cent growth in the past
five years, he said, and added that Karnataka had become a preferred
location for foreign investment.
A regulatory body to set standards and lay down guidelines, much on
the lines of the American Food and Drug Administration, would be set
up in less than two years, said M.K, Bhan, Secretary, Department of
Biotechnology. The draft legislation was awaiting final approval from
the Union Cabinet, he said. The authority would look into agriculture,
animal sciences, genetically modified products and biopharmaceuticals,
he added. A series of initiatives would be undertaken in the next
two years to lay the foundation for life sciences, Dr. Bhan said.
"India will have 16 new Central universities and 13 new Research
and Development institutes. These include a stem cell research centre
in Bangalore that will be located on the campus of the National Centre
for Biological Sciences," he said.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson of Karnataka's Vision Group on Biotechnology
and Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon spoke on the need for
collaboration between laboratories and companies across the world
for growth in biotechnology.
Source: TNN.
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11:40:00 PM 
