Hyderabad, January 24: Complex regulatory procedures, lack of quality infrastructure and rigid labour laws are some of the factors hindering the growth of biotechnology industry in Andhra Pradesh, minister for major industries J Geetha Reddy said today.
She was speaking at a seminar on ‘Bridging the gap in biotech-healthcare and agribiotech commercialisation,” organised by the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Assocham and Fapcci here today.
Speaking on the occasion, she said Andhra Pradesh is one of the front-runners in this field not only in India but also globally. Bio-technology is a frontier technology which has the potential to provide very substantial benefits to society in a wide range of sectors such as agriculture, medical and health, forestry, animal husbandry, environment protection, and improving the quality of products and services.
She said the existing infrastructure for research would provide the necessary support to the development of biotechnology in the state.
“It is necessary to introduce carefully drafted industry- friendly and proactive policies to tap into 100 billion dollars outsourcing opportunity, by providing incentives that would attract local and foreign players to set up shop,’’ she said. Also there is a growing need for simplification of the procedures for various clearances required for commercialising new biotech products or services, she added.
Biotech parks would foster its activities that promote economic development through the development and exchange of knowledge and technologies. The parks would provide an investorfriendly environment that would attract large corporations to set their biotech R & D and manufacturing units here and would also, nurture start-up companies, Geeta Reddy said .
This will in turn provide not only high quality infrastructure such as superior telecommunications, uninterrupted power, well developed road network, assured water supply and attractive housing and recreation, but also specialised facilities and services such training and research institutions, bio-informatic centres and inputs suppliers. She pointed out there was tremendous scope for using biotechnology in disease diagnosis and in the production of vaccines.
Private companies need to be encouraged to develop biotech vaccines and diagnostic kits.
FAPCCI president Shekhar Agarwal said the state has given shape to India’s first biotech cluster genome valley (GV) which is located near capital city. It is India’s first state-of- art biotech cluster.
The state government has promoted Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in an area of 2,200 acres at Visakhapatnam, which is the first of its kind in the country.
FAPCCI secretary general M.V. Rajeshwara Rao was also present.
–Agencies