Telangana to boost Life sciences industry

Soon, the State government will bring out a sector-specific policy, Life Sciences Policy, to ensure that the State maintains its leadership status in the sector by optimally utilizing all the new opportunities.

The State govt has identified life sciences including bulk drugs, formulations, vaccines, nutraceuticals, biological, incubation centers, R&D facilities, and medical equipment as prominent sectors for industrial growth.

The new Industrial Policy launched last month by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has mandated that for each of the core sectors, a sector-specific policy would be brought out.

According to the industry statistics, the Indian healthcare sector had tripled its size in the last one decade from $20 billion in 2002 to $70 billion in 2013, while the share of pharmaceutical market was about $18 billion. As per the estimates, the market size is expected to touch $45 billion by the year 2020, and India will become one among the top six markets in size by 2020.

Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) report reveals that India’s Biotechnology and Healthcare sector could reach $100 billion by 2025. Telangana is now emerging as a leading player in segments like bulk drugs, vaccines and formulations and attracting huge investments and scientific talent from the global pool thus taking full advantage of its strong research base.

The growth rate of life sciences in the Hyderabad cluster has achieved a CAGR of 13.5 per cent and exports registered a growth of 17.3 per cent since 2010. The performance is not surprising, as Hyderabad is part of Telangana, and has advantages over the others.

The government is promoting a Medical Devices Park which is in its infant stage. India imported a large numbers of products to cater to the market size of $3 billion last year. According to industry estimates, the sector projects its growth to touch $11 billion by 2023. However, at present most of the products are being manufactured in the west and are being imported into India.