Search the Internet            Tips

Karnataka turns to biotechnology in a big way

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

If winter is here, can spring be far behind? Not one to rest on the laurels of riding the Information Technology (IT) boom in the country, the pro-active Karnataka government is soon coming out with a major policy on bio-technology (BT) initiatives to be taken up in the next financial year.

Being the first state in the country to have announced an IT policy 3 years ago, the Congress government, led by its savvy Chief Minister S M Krishna in the guise of a CEO, has decided to develop biotechnology into a growth industry. A policy that will include setting up of a bio-tech park (BTP) is expected soon.

Krishna told rediff.com on Sunday night that this policy, the first of its kind in the country, would give a major thrust to the sunrise industry which can leverage its expertise with the skills of the IT sector to develop human resources. This would let BT ventures flourish.

"In the next 15 days, we will come out with a broad policy framework on how to accelerate the growth and development of biotechnology, taking advantage of the inherent strengths the state has in the IT field. We are awaiting the final report and recommendations of the task force which was set up to formulate a forward-looking policy," Krishna affirmed.

The chief minister also hinted at giving incentives and tax reliefs to the green-field industry as in the case of the other knowledge industry, namely, the IT sector, when he presents his next state budget in March for the financial year 2001-2002, as he also holds the finance portfolio.

"The biotech policy will have a two-pronged strategy: the first is to facilitate the momentum of the industry and the other, to enable the benefits of its outcome reach the core sectors of agro-economy such as agriculture, horticulture, and sericulture, besides healthcare.

In framing the policy and its guidelines, the state will also involve agro experts, farmers and even those at the zilla and gram panchayat levels, as they will be the key players in implementing the benefits of BT."

For the organised development of BT, the state is setting up a bio-informatics and applied biotechnology institute in the International Technology Park (ITP) at Whitefield, on the outskirts of the knowledge city.

It will offer short-term post-graduate courses in the subject to train engineers in the new domain, besides conducting advanced research and development (R&D) to incubate start-ups in BT.

Krishna said he would also bring up with the federal government, the legislative measures to be taken up by the state for decentralising the decision-making. "Empowering the state in policy matters will speed up the process of implementation as the nascent industry is capital intensive with returns ploughing back only in the long term."

Earlier, inaugurating the three-day International Symposium on Bioinformatics and Genomics, organised by the southern region of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and being held from Monday, Krishna said that in order to spread its awareness and popularise the concept of BT, a five-day Bangalore Bio.Com conference and exhibition would be organised from April 15, 2001, on the lines of the Bangalore IT.Com.

"As ours is an agrarian economy and our basic strength emerges out of the farm output, the benefits of modern science and technology should percolate to the rural and semi-urban India, where 80 per cent of the population still lives. The technology initiatives should lead to the common good of the maximum people, which is to improve the standard of living, including literacy, healthcare, and wealth generation."

It may be recalled that the state government had set up a biotechnology task force last year with Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of the Bangalore-based Biocon India Group as its chair person.

In her theme address, Kiran Mazumdar said that Karnataka was in an enviable position to repeat its success in the IT field with similar policies for the biotech industry. "The state government is keen to emulate the IT model for the emerging domain of biotechnology as both the areas have turned into two pillars of the knowledge economy."

Money

Business News

Tell us what you think of this report