3-Dec-2022: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, India's bio-economy has grown 8 times in the last 8 years under Prime Minister Modi from $10 billion in 2014 to over $80 billion in 2022
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, India's bio-economy has grown 8 times in the last 8 years under Prime Minister Modi from $10 billion in 2014 to over $80 billion in 2022.
Addressing an “International Conference on Emerging Trends in Biosciences and Chemical Technology- 2022” in Jammu, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, Biotech Startups have grown 100 times in the last 8 years from 52 odd startups in 2014 to 5300 plus in 2022. He said, 3 Biotech Startups were incorporated every day in 2021 and a total of 1,128 biotech startups were set up in 2021 alone, signaling the rapid growth of the sector in India.
The conference is being organized by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, School of Biotechnology, Jammu in collaboration with CSIR-IIIM Jammu and The Biotech Research Society of India, from 3rd - 5th December 2022.
There are 14 international participants like USA, Greece, South Korea, Scotland, Singapore, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia and Vietnam and 24 National keynote and invited speakers and around 300 participants from almost every state of India who are presenting their work in the form of Oral and Poster Presentations.
Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that from a paltry investment of Rs 10 Crore in Bio-economy in 2014, the fund growth saw 400 times hike to Rs 4200 crore in 2022, creating over 25,000 high skilled jobs. He said, number of Bio tech incubators have increased from 6 in 2014 to 75 now, while Biotech products have increased from 10 products to more than 700 today.
Dwelling on the growth of India Bioeconomy, Dr. Jitendra Singh pointed out that India administered nearly 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines per day and a total of 1.45 billion doses in 2021. Similarly, we conducted 1.3 million COVID-19 tests each day in 2021 and overall 507 million tests in 2021.
Dr Jitendra Singh also pointed out that Biotech industry crossed one-billion-dollar R&D spend, thanks to Covid economy and it almost trebled within a year from 320 million dollars in 2020 to 1,02 billion dollars in 2021. The Minister said, India will soon enter the league of top-5 countries in Biotech's global ecosystem.
Dr Jitendra Singh quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to point out the 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 and its track record of success.
Referring to the growing reputation and profile of Indian professionals on the global stage, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, there is growing trust in the skill and innovation of Indian IT professionals in the World and in this Bio-economy decade, the same will be true for the Bio Professionals of India.
Scientific sessions of the conference have been divided under different themes on Health Sciences, Enzymology and Molecular biology, Synthetic Biology, Material Science and Nanomaterial, Natural Products and Green Chemistry, Environmental Sustainability and Development and Plant & Animal Science.
Noted participants from organizing bodies include Prof. R K Sinha, Vice Chancellor, SMVDU, Director, CSIR-IIIM Jammu, Prof. Ashok Pandey, Distinguished Scientist Centre for Innovation & Translational Research, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research Lucknow, Shri Nagendra Singh Jamwal, JKAS, Registrar SMVDU, Dr. InduBhushan, Asst. Prof., School of Biotechnology, SMVDU and Convener of the Conference, Dr. Ratna Chandra, Head, School of Biotechnology, SMVDU and Organizing secretary of the Conference.
28-Jul-2022: India registered a sustained growth in Bioeconomy from $44 Bn US in 2019 to 80.1 Bn in 2021
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India has a target of 300 billion US Dollars in Bioeconomy by 2030.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India registered a sustained growth in Bioeconomy from $44 Bn US in 2019 to 80.1 Bn in 2021.
Bioeconomy is the production, utilization and conservation of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation, to provide information, products, processes and services across all economic sectors. The Indian biotech industry is aligned around five major segments: BioPharma, BioAgriculture, BioIndustrial, Bio-energy and combined segment of BioServices comprising of BioIT, CROs, and Research Services.
Bioeconomy is seen as a means to address societal challenges. For example, use of bio-mass or renewable resources in energy production processes, use of green chemicals and materials; biofertilizers, waste reduction etc. may impact and have cascading effect on carbon footprint, food and nutrition, health, energy independence, and environmental sustainability. New Innovative solutions are expected from Biotech Industry, Research Institutes and growing Biotech Startup ecosystem.
19-Jul-2022: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, Bioeconomy will be key to India's future economy over the next 25 years
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, Bioeconomy will be key to India’s future economy over the next 25 years.
Releasing India’s Bioeconomy Report 2022, Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that India’s Bioeconomy has reached over 80 billion US Dollars in 2021 recording 14.1% growth over $70.2 billion in 2020. Noting the rapid growth in the sector, the Minister said, Bioeconomy is likely to touch 150 billion dollars by 2025 and over 300 billion dollars by 2030.
The Minister urged all the stakeholders of Biotech sector, particularly Industry, Startup Ecosystem, Investors, Scientists, Scholars, Entrepreneurs and enablers like DBT, BIRAC to collectively work to achieve the ambitious target.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the number of Biotech Start-ups in the country have increased from 50 to over 5,300 in the last 10 years, because of the growing enabling ecosystem and prioritization provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He hoped that Biotech Start-ups arising from strong talent pool is expected to further increase 2 times, to 10,000 plus by 2025.
The Minister recalled that Modi's presence in the 1st National Biotech Start-up Expo 2022 organized by DBT/ BIRAC in June this year is a testimony of growth potential in the biotech sector and innovation talent pool of our Start-up ecosystem.
Dr Jitendra Singh also launched special Biotech Ignition Grant call for North East Region (BIG-NER) and announced financial support of up to Rs 50 Lakhs each to 25 startups and entrepreneurs from North East Region to develop biotech solutions. He said, North East has huge potential and talent to take forward the Biotech sector and asked the Ministry to reach out to them.
The Minister said, due to special focus of PM Modi on the North Eastern region, the trend of mass exodus of youth from region has been reversed. He also informed that BIRAC/ DBT has established a strong network of 74 specialized bio-incubation centres in 21 states/ UTs including 7 bio-incubators in the north east region – an emerging cluster. He said, DBT/ BIRAC should continue efforts to nurture a local vibrant bio-entrepreneurial ecosystem in the beautiful and bioresource rich North East to boost the local Bioeconomy.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed that India is among the top 3 in South Asia and top 12 destinations for biotechnology in the world, with approximately 3% share in the global Biotechnology industry. Moreover, India has 2nd highest number of USFDA approved manufacturing plants outside the US. He said, biotechnology sector has the potential to have cascading multiplier effect on overall economic growth of the country. This sunrise sector enables technology led solutions for Healthcare, Industrial manufacturing, Agriculture, Environment and Clean Energy, the Minister added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that India is global leader in the supply of DPT, BCG and measles vaccines and for Covid vaccine also, the nation has demonstrated self-sustenance and also supported several countries. He said, it is interesting to note that while most sectors showed stunted growth or negative growth in the backdrop of Covid challenge, two rounds of lockdowns and global disruptions, the Biotech sector stood out distinctly.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the biotech sector particularly for vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics has shown to the world that India can fight global challenges like COVID pandemic from the forefront and contribute with first-in-class and best-in-class solutions not only for itself but for the world. He added that from large manufacturers to young start-ups, the innovation ecosystem in the country have come together and today, India is self-sufficient in most of the products required to manage the pandemic and we need to keep this momentum.
Dr Jitendra Singh presented certain facts like BioPharma companies supported by Department of Biotechnology and BIRAC with risk-funding of about $71 Mn for development and manufacturing of Covid vaccines. BioPharma Industry in 2021 tripled their R&D spending to nearly $1 billion from $360 million in 2020. Industry also augmented the manufacturing capacity by 3 times from 1300 Mn dose in 2020 to 4500 Mn doses in 2021. This in turn, enabled administration of about 4 Mn doses of Covid vaccine per day in 2021. The overall impact on Bioeconomy from Covid vaccines was registered as $8.7 billion as per the India Bioeconomy report 2022.
Likewise, the production capacities also witness major increase in Covid Diagnostics from 25 million Tests in 2020 to 2000 Mn Tests in 2021. The indigenization of previously imported raw materials, reagents and components played a significant role here. The Make in India National Mission is also likely to play a major role in substituting the import dependence of medical devices where the 70-80% demand is currently being met through imports. We are already witnessing increasing contribution of biotech Start-ups innovating new affordable and accessible medical devices and digital health-tech solutions.
Secretary, DBT, Rajesh Gokhale said, this year is particularly noteworthy as it coincides with the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a celebration of our nation’s 75 years of independence and the release of Bioeconomy 2022 report could not be more apt, as it provides an interim progress report of our journey of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
Dr Gokhale also informed that in case of sustainable Bio-fuel, target year for 20% ethanol blending has been advanced by India from 2025 to 2023 and this biotech sub-sector has shown two times growth. The Ethanol production of 3.3 Bn liters capacity has doubled to 6.5 Bn litres in 2021. With further growth, India would save its import costs, thereby, directly impacting the Forex reserves and Import-Export imbalance in the favor of achieving $10 Trillion overall economy target by 2030.
Similarly, Agriculture sector that employs nearly 60% on India’s population has large scope of improvement. BT Cotton, Biopesticides, Biostimulants and Biofertilizers contributed to about $10.48 billion in 2021 for bioeconomy of the country.
