Karnataka Bioeconomy Report 2020 Launched at Bengaluru Tech Summit

Photo Caption: L to R _ Meena Nagaraj. C. N, IAS – Director, Department of Electronics. IT & BT and Managing Director, KITS, Government of Karnataka, Dr. E.V. Ramana Reddy, IAS – Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister and Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka, C. N. Ashwath Narayan – Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, Narayanan Suresh, Chief Operating Officer, ABLE, Noor Zahara Khanum, KAS – General Manager, KITS, Government of Karnataka.

India

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Bengaluru/ Chandigarh, November 20, 2020:

The first Karnataka BioEconomy Report (KBER) 2020 was launched today on Day 2 of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020. The report estimates that the State’s BioEconomy size is at US$ 22.6 billion (Rupees 167,240 crores) and growing. The event was presided by Dr. C.N. Aswath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, and Minister for IT, BT and S&T, Dr. E.V Ramana Reddy, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Dept. of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T, GoK, Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology, and Chairperson & Managing Director, Biocon Limited, Ms. Meena Nagaraj C.N, IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) and Mr. N. Suresh, Chief Operating Officer, Association for Biotech-Led Enterprises (ABLE).

Karnataka is the first state in the country to measure the impact of the biotechnology industry, its products, and services on its economy. The State’s BioEconomy has grown by 14 – 17% in the previous two years, and contributes 10.3% to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of $ 221.82 billion. Nationally, the BioEconomy valused at $62.5 billion contributed to 2.3% of India’s $2.8 trillion GDP in 2019. Another highlight of the report is that Karnataka contributes more than one-third to the national BioEconomy.

The key recommendations are:

1. To establish a Vaccine Hub
2. BioManufacturing Hub
3. Enable AgriTech Ecosystem by supporting the application of Agri-Biotechnological tools like CRISPR Cas9 (Gene Editing), Molecular Breeding, etc.,
4. More value addition in marine biotech
5. Set up a BioMedical Cluster to make important diagnostic and medical devices
6. An Integrated Biorefineries Cluster to use available biomass.
7. Value-added agriculture systems in Hassan, Dharwad and Belagavi areas.

“We are aiming higher and our Government has set a challenging task of more than doubling the value of BioEconomy in the next five years. Our target is to raise Karnataka’s BioEconomy share to 50% of the National BioEconomy revenue target of $100 billion by the year 2025, said Dr. C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Honorable Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Electronics, IT, Bt & S&T, Government of Karnataka while releasing the first Karnataka BioEconomy Report.

He further added, “Our confidence to achieve the target much earlier stems from the fact that Karnataka already has a rich presence of 35+ State and Central research institutes. Initiatives like the upcoming Bio-industry cluster at Bengaluru Helix Biotech Park at Electronics City, state-of-the-art Bio-incubators in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Dharwad, Bagalkot and Udupi, and seed funding support for more than 150 biotech startups under Elevate Idea2PoC opens new growth opportunities for the sector. Additionally, equity-based investment made through Bio-venture Fund (KITVEN 2 & 3) in DeepTech/EmergeTech companies like Zumutor Biologics (Onco-immmunology), Pandorum Technologies (tissue engineering), String Bio (Synthetic Biology), Vipragen Bioscieces (Clinical Research) and the moset recent, Jiva Sciences, indicate the future potential  of the State’s BioEconomy.”

With the current growth trends, Karnataka’s BioEconomy is expected to touch $42 billion by the year 2025. “So to bridge the gap in likely revenues, the report recommends a series of strategic initiatives to overcome this hurdle and cross the target in time, in the continuing spirit of the state’s industry, policy makers and Government working together with a visionary approach,” said Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of the Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology (VGBT) and Biocon Group.

“The first Karnataka BioEconomy Report (KBER) has laid out the strategy to further propel the biotechnology sector that contributes more than 10% to the state’s economy and the Department of Electronics, IT, BT & S&T looks forward to work with all BioEconomy stakeholders  to ensure that the challenging target of $50 billion BioEconomy valuations by 2025 is achieved by the state,” said Dr. A. V. Ramana Reddy, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Department of Electronics, IT, Bt & S&T.

Ms. Meena Nagaraj C.N, IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) said, “Our Department has been at the forefront of devising policies and strategies to harness the power of biotechnology for the growth of the state. The double-digit share of BioEconomy’s contribution to Karnataka’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) indicates that biotechnology will continue to play a key role in propelling the state’s economic growth in the next few decades”.

KBER is an attempt to capture the tremendous efforts that have gone into making Karnataka one of India’s most sought-after biotechnology hub.

Also, released on the occasion was the E-booklet “IBAB – Idea to Achievement” and informational Video chronicling the establishment of Bengaluru Helix Biotech Park in 86 acres of land at Electronics City with Academic institutions (IBAB & CHG), Innovation Zone (Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre) and the Bio-Industry Cluster.

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