India’s bio-economy grew 8 times in past eight years: Modi at Biotech expo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India’s bio-economy has grown eight times in the past eight years, reaching USD 80 billion from USD 10 billion, while raising hopes that the country will soon join the league of top 10 nations in the global ecosystem of biotech.

Speaking at the Biotech Startup Expo 2022, Modi said his government believes in strengthening every sector for giving momentum to the country’s development, and has shifted from the earlier tradition of focusing on some sectors while ignoring others.

He said, in the last eight years, the number of start-ups in the country has increased from a few hundreds to over 70,000, adding that his government had worked to boost the ease of doing business and promote a culture of entrepreneurship.

Modi said that these 70,000 startups are established in about 60 different industries. Noting that exports from some sectors have hit a record, he said supporting and developing every sector is the country’s need and his government is exploring every means to give momentum to India’s development.

“The biotech sector is very important in giving new momentum to the country’s development,” he said.

Stating that global trust in the skill and innovation of India’s IT professionals in the world is at its new peak, he said the country’s biotech sector is drawing a similar trust.

“Diverse population, diverse climatic zones, talented human capital pool, increasing efforts to boost ease of doing business, increasing demand in India for bio-products and the track record of this sectors success are the five big reasons for India being considered a land of opportunity in biotech,” he said.

Modi said the Biotech Startup Expo 2022 will strengthen the Aatmanirbhar Bharat movement in the sector. The Biotech Startup Expo-2022 is a two day event being held on June 9 and 10. The theme of the Expo is Biotech Startup Innovations: Towards AatmaNirbhar Bharat. The Expo, the government has said, will act as a platform to connect entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, scientists, researchers, bio-incubators, manufacturers, regulators and government officials.

(With inputs from agencies)