Govt to invite global players for developing life sciences park at Mohali

The Punjab government has decided to invite global key players for developing a ‘Life Sciences Park’ at Mohali for which the department of science, technology and environment has kickstarted the process.

The state-of-the-art park for which consultations are being held with the government departments, biotechnology industry, universities and research institutions will be spread over 80 acres of land. “The park will be strategically co-located in Knowledge City, Mohali, which houses first-of-its kind agri-food biotechnology cluster in the country, including National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Centre of Innovative & Applied Bio processing (CIAB), Punjab Biotechnology Incubator and other reputed institutions,” principal secretary, science and technology, RK Verma said after presiding over a high level meeting of the prominent universities and institutes here.

Verma said Punjab State Biotech Corporation, the nodal agency for the development of the biotechnology sector, had engaged Ernst and Young, India’s leading consulting firm as project management consultant, to assist the state in development of the project. “The park will cater to diverse sectors of biotechnology, including bio-agri, bio-pharma, bio-industry, bio-energy and bio-services. It will also accelerate the development of biotechnology sector in the state attracting investment, creating jobs and positioning the state as biotechnology hub,” he said.

Punjab Biotech had already signed a MoU with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public sector undertaking of DBT-GOI to jointly promote innovation ecosystem in the state, to meet space, service and knowledge requirement of this crucial sector. The meeting was attended by the representatives from PAU, CUPB, MRSPTU, BFUHS, IIT Ropar, PGIMER, IMTECH, NIT Jalandhar, INST Mohali, DAV University, Chitkara University, LPU and officials of health, industry, technical education, horticulture department.