Bengaluru Tech Summit: ‘Bio Maange More’ should be mantra, says DST Secretary

Rajesh Gokhale was virtually delivering the keynote address at the 'Bengaluru Tech Summit' that commenced at Bengaluru Palace on Wednesday.

Secretary to the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Rajesh Gokhale advocated that 'Bio Maangee More' should be the mantra and Bioscience should be converted into the bio-economy of the nation.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah with DCM DK Shivakumar during the inauguration of Bengaluru Tech Summit 2023. (ANI Photo)(Savitha)

Gokhale was virtually delivering the keynote address at the 'Bengaluru Tech Summit' that commenced at Bengaluru Palace on Wednesday.

Speaking about the 'Biomanufacturing initiative of India', Gokhale said, "Biology will shape the next technological revolution and India will become a global leader in the field of biotechnology", adding that this is possible only with a proper plan, and joint effort in both bio-production research and marketing.

Bioeconomy was an 80 billion dollar economy in 2022 and is set to reach 300 billion dollars by 2030. However, the bio-pharmaceutical sector will have a lion's share of 68 per cent, he opined.

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According to him, bio-manufacturing will progress in seven sectors such as bio-pharma, bio-agriculture, bio-industry, bio-fuel, bio-services, bio-medtech and bio-fuel and bio-artificial intelligence.

Gokhale said the country's Bio-Mission will be launched very shortly and it will be a foundation for the bio-manufacture sector and added that we need to think about establishing Bio-hub.

"We need to give the world a sustainable, innovative and responsible bio-production solution," he said and added that with this huge employment opportunities will be created.

The officer informed that the union government has established a biological data centre and the industry must utilise the service of the centre.

Stating that the government has aimed to develop a unique "Heal with the AI" by combining biotechnology and artificial intelligence in the field of medicine he said that the union government has already allocated ₹6,300 crore in the field of biological production and invested ₹7 crores for fellowships.

He explained the works of the Biotechnology department and said that the government has been supporting bio-innovations.

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In his introductory address, the president of the Association of Biotechnology-Led Enterprises (ABLE) G S Krishnan said that the ABLE has submitted a proposal to the state government to establish a bio-production hub.

"The government would provide suitable land soon and it would be a boon for the bio-manufacture sector", he added.

"When the whole world was suffering from the COVID pandemic, India came up with the vaccine and thus the world came to know about India's capacity in biotechnological innovations", he said and also informed that India signed the Biofuels Partnership Agreement in G20 summit.

The president said that the number of startups in biotech has been increasing and we need to look at the challenges to encourage and ensure the growth of the organizations and to mobilize the investment.