The sectors growth dropped to 20 per cent in 2007-08 after a continuous growth of over 30 per cent achieved by the industry for the last five years. The growth was affected by appreciation of the rupee and price pressures in global markets.
The biotech industry survey showed that the industry's revenue grew to Rs 10,273 crore ($2.56 billion) in the fiscal ended March 31, 2008 from Rs 8,541 crore ($ 2.01 billion) in 2006-07.
In 2007-08, nearly two-thirds of the industry's revenue came from exports, hence the strengthening of the rupee was a key reason for the industry's slow down. The rupee gained 10 to 12 per cent against the dollar last fiscal.
Segment wise, Bio-Pharma revenue touched Rs 6,899.90 crore, up 16 per cent; Bio-services Rs 1,572 crore, up 43 per cent; Agri-bio Rs 1,201.78 core, up 30 per cent and Industrial-bio Rs 410 crore, up 4 per cent.
The biotech sector had a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34 per centin the last five years. Bio-services had the highest CAGR of 63 per cent, followed by the agri-bio sector with 61 per cent.
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Commenting on the survey findings, Narayanan Suresh, group editor, of BioSpectrum said, "After five straight years of over 30 per cent growth, India's fledgling biotech industry has slowed down. The appreciation of the rupee for most of 2007-08 stole the high growth momentum from an industry that records two-thirds of its revenues from exports."
The year (2007-08) saw investment of Rs 2,750 crore, up 21 per cent compared to the previous fiscal. Based on the current trends and the new progressive biotech policy in place, the survey forecast revenue of about $13 to $16 billion by 2015.
Revenue is expected to go up when a few innovative products, which are currently in the pipeline, receive regulatory approval.
According to K K Narayanan, President of ABLE, "The inability to sustain the growth momentum can be attributed to several factors, the primary one being that the revenues from Indian-made innovative biotech products, that can be sold globally, are yet to kick- in."
"The Bio-pharma industry in India is coming of age now and the next five years will be a very interesting period. There is a growing club of companies in India that are beginning to develop novel biotech based pharmaceutical products for India and the world. Besides healthcare, we also expect Biotech to begin to contribute significantly to other areas of the economy such as the Bio-fuels sector", said Shrikumar Suryanarayan, director general of ABLE.
Pune-based Serum Institute emerged as the top biotech company with revenues of Rs 987 crore for the third consecutive year followed by Biocon Rs 912 crore, Panacea Biotech Rs 677.98 and Nuziveedu Seeds Rs 303 and Rassi Seeds Rs 293 crore.
The survey shows that Hyderabad-based Nuziveedu Seeds with revenues of Rs 303 crore was the number one Agri-bio company beating last year's topper Salem-based Rasi Seeds.