The Hindu Business Line : Bangalore biotech park gets SEZ status

Advertisement

Bangalore Jan. 21 The Karnataka Government has obtained SEZ status for its biotechnology park project and has rolled out a fresh tender process to develop the second and third parts of its project on PPP (public-private partnership) basis.

Top names in biotechnology, construction and real estate development from within and outside the country have pitched, and 16 aspirants have been short-listed from 21 expressions of interest received since the bids were called a month back, Mr M.N. Vidyashankar, Secretary, IT and Biotechnology, told Business Line.

The 106-acre park, called Helix, is proposed at Electronics City phase 3 on the road to Hosur.

Mr Vidyashankar said that prior experience and financial status were the two primary criteria sought in aspirants.

"The biotech park will help in ensuring the entry of the world's best and the biggest players into the State."

Karnataka already has the country's largest set of 160 biotech companies, he added.

The State expects investment of at least Rs 350 crore from the developer, while it would contribute the land as its equity (on a 35-year lease).

The Department plans to issue requests for proposals this month and call a pre-bid meeting on February, he said.

The contract is expected to be awarded by mid-April so that the entire park of 7000,000 sq ft is completed in 30 months.

Simultaneously, the Biotechnology Department is in the process of acquiring 300 acres more for future development of the biotech park.

The six-acre Part A, which has been already taken up by the National Buildings Construction Corporation and is due to be completed by May, will house the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, the Centre for Human Genomics and hostels.

The newly tendered part includes an 86-acre zone for commercial and research biotech clusters, and an incubation centre for budding biotech enterprises and a common instrumentation facility on another 14 acres.

Helix is expected to do to biotechnology what ITPL did for the IT sector in Karnataka, an official said. An eight-lane highway is also coming up towards the park site.

Mr Vidyashankar said that the State has also applied to the Department of Biotechnology to start a stem cell research institute and has allocated 10 acres near the University of Agricultural Sciences in north Bangalore.

More Stories on : Industrial Policy | Bio-tech & Genetics

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
EBC Bearings gets nod for Vendor Park

SEZ rules to be amended to benefit turnkey sub-contractors

Bangalore biotech park gets SEZ status

Securing the nation