Biotechnology that encompasses the use of life science in the production of new goods and services is gradually attaining considerable ground in India. This country is only populated, diverse, and it has a highly trained human resource that has scope of biotechnology in india.
A review of the history of India’s entrance into biotechnology began in the late 1970 with the formation of Biocon. Nevertheless, it stepped into the higher threshold in 1986, when the Ministry of Science and Technology created the Department of Biotechnology (DBT ). Since then biopharmaceuticals, agriculture, the environment has known for very rapid growth in India. The biotechnological development of the country has benefitted greatly from its diverse bio- resources, a pool of qualified workers, and government support.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Agriculture: Molecular biology and plant breeding are being effectively implemented in Indian agriculture in the form of genetically modified crops, bio fertilizers and bio control agents. These innovations seeks to improve on yield, reduction of pesticides, and food security.
- Healthcare: Healthcare is one of the most developing sectors in India and Biotechnology is very much active in drug and diagnostics and apparels medical devices etc. It has also become a world’s producer of generic medicines due to its wage rates on production line.
- Pharmaceuticals: Biotechnology in general and biosimilar in particular have emerged as the key strategic tool with which Indian pharmaceutical companies can create new products, drugs, vaccines and biotherapies. The government must have encouraged research and development in this sector since innovations are motivated.
- Industrial Biotechnology: Biotechnology technology is also being used in diverse sectors and areas such as food processing; bio-fuel production and environmental management. Organic processes are being adopted by companies to develop environmentally friendly products and this has become the normal way of doing things.
Government Initiatives and Challenges:
Biotechnology is also recognised as one of the most promising field Indian government constantly encourage it and has adopted several measures for its development. These include:
- Department of Biotechnology (DBT): Indo-US Bio-Technology Technical Collaboration Ltd (DBT) is the nodal agency for biotechnology in India. It offers these to knowledge producers and users through Research and Development for Technology and Innovation Policies.
- Biotechnology Parks: Currently, the government has developed biotechnology parks all over the country in order to facilitate research, innovation and commercialization.
- Academic Institutions: Through various university and research institutes in India, supply of human resource with the required skills to join the biotechnology industry is produced.
However, despite these efforts, the Indian biotechnology sector faces several challenges, such as:
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- Regulatory Hurdles: The regulation of biotechnology in India can be cumbersome and slow thus pose a challenge to innovation.
- Infrastructure Gaps: However, the Indian infrastructure is far from impressive especially in the case of research equipments or efficient protection of IP rights.
- Talent Shortage: The industry is under pressure by shortage of talent pool; especially in areas like genomics and synthetic biology.
- Future Outlook:
However, to meet all these challenges, the future of biotechnology in India seems bright. Large population in the country and booming economy with more focus and support from the government is the opportune environment required for growth or rather innovation in this case. However, given India’s growing focus and investment in research and development it stands to be a world power in biotechnology.
