Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Ahmedabad,: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said India's bioeconomy has grown eight-fold in the last eight years to $80 billion, and the country has set a target to reach $600 billion by 2030.
The minister was speaking at the pre-Vibrant Gujarat seminar on 'Biotechnology: The Path of Innovation and Wellness for Viksit Bharat'.
"The Indian bioeconomy has grown eight times in the last eight years to $80 billion from $10 billion earlier. India has set a target for the biotechnology industry to grow to $150 billion by 2025 and $600 billion by 2030. There are more than 760 companies and 4,240 startups in the biotechnology sector in the country," he said.
The country is not far from being among the top 10 in the biotechnology global ecosystem, he said at a seminar organised as part of the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024.
"Biotechnology will become the biggest foundation for health treatment, and will help resolve complex questions in the fields of agriculture, environment, industrial production, and several such areas," Mandaviya said.
The economy will be based on biotechnology because of all these factors, he added.
The National Biotechnology Development Strategy 2022-25 has focused on skill development, R&D, knowledge sharing, commercialisation facilities and public-private partnership mode to connect to the markets, the minister informed.
As of 2020, the pharmaceutical sector contributed 62 per cent to the Indian bioeconomy, followed by bio-agriculture (16 per cent), and bio-services and bio-industries (together accounting for 22 per cent), he said.
By developing five vaccines for COVID-19, India showed its biotechnology prowess to the world, and it was made possible due to the biotechnology skills available in the country, he said.
"India provided affordable vaccines to more than 125 countries. In coming times, India will make available many such biotechnology-based products for the welfare of the world," he said.
Speaking at the seminar, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said biotechnology is a rapidly growing 'technology of hope'.
Under the visionary leadership of the then chief minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat has focused on the development of the biotechnology sector since 2004, he said.
A golden era has begun in the field of biotechnology in the country and Gujarat is poised to be a leader in it as well, he said.
Patel expressed confidence that the biotechnology sector will prove to be important in achieving the goal of a developed India through a developed Gujarat.