India's bioeconomy at $80 bn in 2021: S&T minister Jitendra Singh

India’s bioeconomy grew 14.1% from $70.2 billion in 2020 to reach $80 billion in 2021, notes Dr Jitendra Singh, union minister of state (independent charge) science & technology.

Singh, who is also the minister of state (independent charge) earth sciences, MoS PMO, personnel, public grievances, pensions, atomic energy and space says given the rapid growth in the sector, bioeconomy is likely to touch $150 billion by 2025 and $300 billion by 2030.

Releasing India’s Bioeconomy Report 2022 in Delhi on July 19, the minister points out the number of biotech start-ups in the country has increased from 50 to over 5,300 in the last 10 years and hoped the numbers will further increase to 10,000 plus by 2025.

The minister urged all the stakeholders of the biotech sector, particularly industry, startup ecosystem, investors, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs and enablers like department of biotechnology (DBT) and biotechnology industry research assistance council (BIRAC) to collectively work to achieve the ambitious target. He also launched a special biotech ignition grant call for North East region (BIG-NER) where a financial support of Rs 50 lakh each to 25 start-ups and entrepreneurs from North East Region will be provided to develop biotech solutions.

Dr Singh informs India is among the top 3 in South Asia and top 12 destinations for biotechnology in the world, with approximately 3% share in the global biotechnology industry. Moreover, India has the 2nd highest number of USFDA-approved manufacturing plants outside the U.S. The biotechnology sector has the potential to have a cascading multiplier effect on overall economic growth of the country. This sunrise sector enables technology led solutions for healthcare, industrial manufacturing, agriculture, environment and clean energy, the minister adds.

The India Bioeconomy Report 2022 states the country’s biopharma industry tripled their R&D spending to nearly $1 billion in 2021, as compared to $360 million in 2020. Industry also augmented the vaccine manufacturing capacity by three times from 1,300 million doses in 2020 to 4,500 million doses in 2021. This in turn, enabled administration of about 4 million doses of Covid vaccine per day in 2021. The overall impact on Bioeconomy from Covid vaccines was registered as $8.7 billion in 2021.