The Hindu Business Line : Karnataka may give further thrust to biotech sector

THE Karnataka Government could make a reappraisal of the biotech policy to see if any new inputs have to be incorporated in view of the increasing importance gained by the sector.

Hinting at this possibility, Mr Shankaralinge Gowda, Secretary, Department of Bio-Technology, said that a decision would be taken only after the outcome of the annual Bangalore Bio-2004 conference scheduled to be held here form July 11 to 13.

Mr Gowda told newspersons here, that with biotech's applicationacross the spectrum and its potential to improve the status of the sectors such as agriculture, sericulture, health and aquaculture, the Government was keen to give a thrust to the sector.

He also informed that the proposed biotech park will be set up within a year. The park will come up on a 100-acre land in the Electronic city. He said with this infrastructure and the Rs 50-crore biotechnology fund created by the Government, this sector should get a fillip for investments in the sector.

Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson of Vision Group Biotechnology and Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon Group, said the meet, though delayed by three months due to elections, has retained its significance, which she said was evident from about 100 participants expected to attend the three-day meet.

She said the previous meetings of Bangalore Bio - which was launched in 2001— had helped in profiling India for its biotech potential.

The Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Kapil Sibal, will inaugurate the event. The participants include Biocon, Ranbaxy, Sartorious, Millipore, AstraZeneca, Alfa Lava, Avesthagen, Strand Genomics, TCS, Pall Life Sciences, Aurigene, CSIR, the Department of Biotechnology, and includes States such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Tamil Nadu, and countries such as the UK, Japan, Germany, Australia, Canada and Korea, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.