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Karnataka is well on its path to grow and contribute 50 per cent to the national bio-economy which is expected to cross a $100 billion mark by 2025, said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson of Biocon.
Speaking at the opening session of the State’s annual tech event, Bengaluru Technology Summit, she said Karnataka’s bio-economy is estimated to have contributed $22.6 billion to the country’s bio-economy in 2019, accounting for 10.2 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product.
“This is of immense importance when compared to the valuation of national bio-economy, which has been estimated at $62.5 billion currently. That means, Karnataka already accounts for 1/3 of national bio-economy. We want to rapidly scale this and aim to be 50 per cent of the $100 billion bio-economy by 2025,” she said.
In her commentary on the State’s bio-economy landscape, Mazumdar-Shaw said, Karnataka was the first State in the country to introduce a policy on biotechnology at the turn of the millennium, when the sector was still in its infancy.
Preferred destination
Within a span of two decades, the State has emerged as the preferred destination for biotech investments in the country. Today, it hosts around 60 per cent of the biotech companies in the country and employs around 54 per cent of the country’s total biotech workforce. The State is home to as many as 380 biotech companies and over 200 start-ups, representing 18 per cent of the total registered biotech start-ups in India, she added.
“We have been at the forefront of several innovations that are helping reimagine the future of healthcare. Innovators in the State are leveraging exciting, cutting-edge opportunities such as Artificial Intelligence, data analysis and CRISPR gene-editing technology to address growing global diseases challenges,” she elaborated.
According to Mazumdar-Shaw, who is also chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology, the State’s emergence as a frontrunner in biotech-led innovation is a fruition of the plans laid out by the Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology 20 years ago.
“Whether it is diagnostics, vaccines, therapies or telehealth, technology has acted as a saviour for us in this pandemic,” she said. The tech summit was taking place at a time when Covid-19 has highlighted the transformative power of biotechnology and information technology in providing solutions to rapidly and effectively address this global pandemic, Mazumdar-Shaw pointed out.
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