PM Modi inaugurates Biotech Startup Expo, says sector has grown rapidly
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday that India’s bio-economy has grown eight times in the last eight years and that the demand for biotechnology in the country is on the rise.
PM Modi made the remarks while inaugurating the Biotech Startup Expo 2022 at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan organised by the Department of Biotechnology to celebrate 10 years of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), showcasing 75 successful startups supported by the agency. He also launched a Biotech products e-portal of 750 biotech products.
Speaking of India’s bio-economy, the Prime Minister said, “We have grown from $10 billion to $80 billion. India is not too far from reaching the league of top-10 countries in biotech’s global ecosystem.”
Pointing out the significance of the growth of the biotech sector in the development of the country, PM Modi said, “Trust in the skill and innovation of our IT professionals in the world is at new heights. This same trust and reputation, this decade, we are seeing happening in the biotech sector of India and for the bio professionals of India… There are five big reasons why India is being considered a land of opportunities in the field of the biotech— diverse population and diverse climatic zones, India’s talented human capital pool, increasing efforts for ease of doing business in India, the demand for bio-products is increasing continuously in India and India’s biotech sector and its track record of success.”
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Biotech Startup Expo 2022 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday. (Express Photo: Praveen Khanna)
PM Modi said that the government has worked tirelessly for improving the potential and power of the Indian economy, and unlike during the previous governments when only certain sectors were focused on, his administration has paid equal attention to all sectors.
“For biotech sector too, unprecedented steps are being taken which are clearly manifested in the startup ecosystem. In the last eight years, the number of startups in our country has increased from a few hundred to 70,000. These 70,000 startups are made in about 60 different industries. In this also, more than 5,000 startups are associated with biotech. Every 14th startup in the biotechnology sector and more than 1100 such biotech startups emerged in the last year itself,” he said.
Further talking about the shift of talent towards the sector, PM Modi said the number of investors in the biotech sector has risen by nine times and biotech incubators and funding for them have increased by seven times. “The number of biotech incubators has increased from six in 2014 to 75 now. Biotech products have increased from 10 products to more than 700 today,” he said.
PM Modi at the Biotech Startup Expo. (Express Photo: Praveen Khanna)
The Prime Minister said in order to transcend the government-centric approach, the government is encouraging a culture of providing new enabling interfaces. Platforms like BIRAC are being strengthened and many other sectors are seeing this approach, such as Startup India for startups. IN-SPACe for the space sector, iDEX for defence startups, India Semiconductor Mission for semi-conductors, Smart India Hackathons for encouraging innovations among the youth and also, the biotech start-up expo.
“Inculcating the spirit of Sabka Prayas, the government, through new institutions is bringing together the best minds of the industry on a single platform. This is another big benefit to the country. The country gets new breakthroughs from research and academia, the industry helps in what is a real-world view, and the government provides the necessary policy environment and necessary infrastructure,” said PM Modi.
He said that the biotech sector is one of the most demand-driven sectors and that the campaign for ease of living in India over the years has “opened up new possibilities for the biotech sector.” He pointed out that developments in health, agriculture, energy, natural farming, bio fortified seeds are creating new avenues for the sector.
The event was attended by Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Dr Jitendra Singh, stakeholders of the biotech sectors, experts, SMEs, and investors.
