Biotechnology in India - Initiatives by the Government
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) was set up under the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1986. This gave a new impetus to the development of biotechnology in India. The DBT has set up many Centres of Excellence in the country. These centers are responsible for generating skilled manpower as well as supporting R&D efforts of private industries. This has promoted interactions between the academia and the industry which has resulted in several industry houses from the "old industry" and entrepreneur initiatives to take root and grow biotechnology in India.
The Indian Government has evolved biosafety guidelines and has helped to lay down patent rules. It has also participated in technology transfers and international collaborations.
The growth of biotechnology in India has lead to an increase in budgetary allocations, which have gone up by a tremendous amount from 404 million in 1987-88 to 1138 million in 1997-98 and to 2356 million in 2002-03. The center is also planning to introduce additional venture capital funds in line with its Technology Development Fund (TDF) to promote small and medium biotech enterprises.
The Indian government has laid down a decent regulatory framework to approve GM crops and r-DNA products for human health. A proactive government policy allows stem cell research in the country while having in place sound ethical guidelines. The product patent regime will come into force by the year 2005. The second amendment of the Indian Patents Bill was recently cleared by the Parliament, which include a 20-year patent term, emergency provisions and commencement of R&D immediately after the filing of patents. The bill is compatible with the provisions of WTO and TRIPS.
Several states have taken their own initiatives in terms of defining their own biotech policies to give an impetus to the industry in this sector and to biotechnology in India as a whole. States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh are developing biotech parks. They are encouraging research activities, establishing links between their research institutions and industry. Several concessions are being offered to the industry in terms of single window clearance, speedy customs clearance, exemption from tax, creation of funds to be used for the incubation of new project.