PremiumListen to this article |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India's 'bio economy' has grown eight times in the last eight years, it has reached $80 billion from $10 billion. Addressing the Biotech Startup Expo after inaugurating the two-day event in Delhi, PM Modi said the expo will strengthen 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' movement in this sector.
Further, the prime minister cited five reasons why India is being considered a land of opportunities in the biotech field. These include a Diverse population, diverse climatic zones; secondly, Human capital pool; third, ease of doing business; fourth, increased demand for bio-products, and fifth, successful trac record of Biotech sector.
Further, PM Narendra Modi spoke about the rapid rise of startups in India, including in the field of Biotech. The PM mentioned that in the past eight years, since the time his government came into power, the number of startups has increased from 100 to 70,000. "These 70,000 start-ups are made in about 60 different industries. In this also more than 5,000 start-ups are associated with biotech," PM Modi added.
PM Modi said that the 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 added.
The Biotech Startup Expo - 2022 is a two-day event being held on June 9 and 10.
It is being organised by the Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
The event is being held to mark the completion of ten years of setting up of BIRAC. The theme of the Expo is 'Biotech Startup Innovations: Towards AatmaNirbhar Bharat'.
The Expo will act as a platform to connect entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, scientists, researchers, bio-incubators, manufacturers, regulators, government officials, etc, said the PMO.
About 300 stalls are set up at the Expo, that showcases the applications of biotechnology in various fields such as healthcare, genomics, biopharma, agriculture, industrial biotechnology, waste-to-value, and clean energy, among others.