India’s bio economy grew by 8 times in last 8 years, says Modi

New Delhi: Emphasising the country’s rising stature in the global ecosystem of biotech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India’s bio-economy has grown eight times in the last eight years.

Prime Minister inaugurated the Biotech Startup Expo – 2022 at Pragati Maidan, here on Thursday. Prime Miniter also launched the Biotech products e portal. Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jitendra Singh, stakeholders of biotech sectors, experts, SMEs and investors were among those present on the occasion.

Addressing the event, Prime Minister Modi said, “India’s bio-economy has grown 8 times in the last 8 years. We have grown from USD 10 billion to USD 80 billion. India is not too far from reaching the league of top-10 countries in Biotech’s global ecosystem.” He also noted the contribution of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) in the development of the sector in the country. The Prime Minister said that today, when the country is taking new pledges during the Amrit Kaal, the role of the biotech industry is very significant in the development of the country.

Highlighting the growing reputation of Indian professionals on the global stage, 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 for the Biotech sector of India and for the Bio Professionals of India.” Prime Minister listed out five factors behind the success of India’s biotech sector.

“There are five big reasons why India is being considered a land of opportunities in the field of biotech. First- diverse population and diverse climatic zones; second India’s talented human capital pool; third – increasing efforts for ease of doing business in India; fourth – the demand for bio-Products is increasing continuously in India; and fifth- India’s biotech sector that is the track record of its successes,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that the government has worked tirelessly to improve the potential and power of the Indian economy. He emphasized that there is stress on the ‘whole of the government approach.’ He said for the biotech sector, unprecedented steps are being taken which are clearly manifested in the startup ecosystem.

“In the last 8 years, the number of start-ups in our country has increased from a few hundred to 70,000. These 70,000 start-ups 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 1,100 such biotech startups emerged in the last year itself,” stated PM Modi.

Further talking about the shift of talent towards the sector the Prime Minister said number of investors in biotech sector has risen by 9 times and biotech incubators and funding for them has increased by 7 times. Number of Bio tech incubators have increased from 6 in 2014 to 75 now. Biotech products have increased form 10 products to more than 700 today”, he informed.

The Prime Minister said in order to transcend the government-centric approach, the Centre is encouraging a culture of providing new enabling interfaces. Platforms like BIRAC are being strengthened and many other sectors are seeing this approach. He gave the example of Startup India for start-ups. IN-SPACe for space sector, iDEX for defence startups, India Semiconductor Mission for semiconductors, Smart India Heckathons for encouraging innovations among the youth and also, the Biotech start-up Expo.

The Prime Minister emphasized that “Biotech sector is one of the most Demand Driven Sectors. The campaigns for Ease of Living in India over the years have opened up new possibilities for the biotech sector.” He pointed out that developments health, agriculture, energy, natural farming, bio fortified seeds are creating new avenues for the sector.