Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, India is set to achieve $150 billion Bio-Economy by 2025, which stood at over $100 billion in 2022.
The Minister was speaking, while overseeing the signing up of the ‘Implementation Arrangement’ between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the United States-National Science Foundation (US-NSF) today in New Delhi. This was a follow-up of the discussion meeting held between Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale. Secretary, DBT and Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director, NSF in June, 2023 to discuss opportunities for developing ‘Strategic Partnership’ between DBT and US-NSF.Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US in June 2023, the leaderships of the both the countries called on their administrations to extend the existing partnerships to advanced biotechnology and biomanufacturing, and enhance biosafety and biosecurity innovation, practices, and norms.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, India’s ever-growing Bio-Economy graph is going to contribute significantly to India’s Overall Economy. He said, India has a 3-5% market share in the global biotechnology industry and it ranks 12th in the world in biotech and 3rd in Asia-pacific.
The Minister said, India has the 3rd largest Startups ecosystem globally; and the largest vaccine manufacturer. Moreover, India’s ranking in global science and technology indices continues to rise and India has been ranked 40th among the innovative economies as per Global Innovation Index, 2022.
Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that the Department of Biotechnology has created and nurtured a strong foundation in biotechnology innovation, research and manufacturing across segments such as bio-pharma, bio-services, agri biotech, industrial biotech, and bioinformatics through public-private partnership, Make-in-India and Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiatives of the Government.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Indian Government has always supported technology-driven innovation towards the creation of a 'future-ready' technology platform in line with the Prime Minister Modi’s vision of Aatmanirbharta and he congratulated DBT and NSF for building on the bilateral collaborations between India and USA through this Implementation Arrangement.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the climate change, inadequate resource utilization, an unsustainable pattern of material consumption and waste generation are global threats and require concerted sustainable interventions and therefore called for futuristic research and innovation strategies for accelerating Biomanufacturing are essential to address global sustainable goals. He said, accordingly, DBT has undertaken a major initiative on “Fostering High Performance Biomanufacturing- An integrated approach towards promoting circular economy for Green, Clean and Prosperous India” and added that it exemplifies ‘Lifestyle for the Environment (LIFE)’launched by Prime Minister that urges all stakeholders to pursue green and friendly environmental solutions in every aspect of life to effectively achieve climate and energy goals;
The Minister said, the ‘Implementation Arrangement’ will lay the foundation for collaboration between the two countries on accelerating innovations in the area of ‘Biotechnology Innovation and Biomanufacturing’.This will advance knowledge, technologies, and innovation through supportive collaborative research to empower biotechnology industries and promote bioeconomy of both the countries, he added.
Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director, NSF, said that “USA and India can together address pressing global needs such as climate mitigation and energy goals through biotechnology innovation and biomanufacturing”.
Dr Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary, DBT added that “this partnership will be an important step to mutually address the challenges in the innovation space as well as for enhancing technological opportunities. This will also bring synergy to DBT’s initiatives for fostering high performance Biomanufacturing- an integrated approach towards promoting circular economy for Green, Clean and Prosperous India”.
About Department of Biotechnology (DBT)The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology,Government of India creates and nurtures strong foundation in biotechnology innovation, research and development across segments such as bio-pharma, bio-services, agri-biotech, industrial biotech, and bioinformatics.
The U.S. National Science Foundation (US-NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in the United States. It was established to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure national defence, through administering grants.