The Tamil Nadu government is revising its decade-old biotech policy in consultation with experts, industry and academia to enhance performance of the state in the biotechnology sector, said MK Stalin, deputy chief minister.
Inaugurating a round table conference on the development of biotechnology and its enabled services to create inputs for vision 2020, Stalin said, “Considering the need for a new policy to promote biotechnology, the state government is in the process of drafting a new biotech policy, which was discussed by the high-powered Tamil Nadu Manufacturing Competitive Council in the meeting held on January 21.” The conference was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
He said biotechnology was the next wave of knowledge economy and the government was determined to make Tamil Nadu a leading global centre in biotechnology.
The proposed policy is expected to address the needs of the industry like creating infrastructure, bioincubator facilities, regulations, human resources and a common platform for the industry, academia and the government to communicate, according to a senior official from the government. It would also elaborate on the funding options and policies to support biotech research and manufacturing.
The government is also setting up a Marine Biotechnology Park near Mahabalipuram and a Medicinal Plant Biotech Park in Madurai. It has identified 300 acres near Mamallapuram for the Marine Biotech Park, said Stalin.
Further, TICEL Biotechnology Park II with an investment of Rs 150 crore is expected to be ready by end of 2011. There is also a proposal to establish a biotechnology core facility in Park II with an investment of Rs 19.30 crore to provide scientific and incubation support to the biotech industries.
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Laboratories for BSL3 with an investment of Rs 7.37 crore would also be established in the facility, he added. Park II is designed as an expansion project of the existing TICEL Biotech Park at Taramani, Chennai, that is fully occupied with around 14 firms in domains including testing and analytical services, contract research and research and development in biotech and pharma sectors.
The industry has urged the state government to set up a department of biotechnology to serve as a single window clearance agency.
Though Tamil Nadu was one of the first states to announce a policy in 2000 for promoting biotechnology, recently several states have marched ahead with a separate policy, said Stalin.
At present, states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and the National Capital Region (NCR) which included New Delhi, are pioneering the domain while Tamil Nadu contributes to less than 10 per cent of the total biotech segment in India, inform industry sources.