Hyderabad: The scientific city of India

If the 21st century is the 'Asian Century of Biotech', then where exactly does Hyderabad fit into the big picture? Encomiums were showered on the state capital by eminent personalities at the inauguration of BioAsia today, especially the pro-active role played by the Chandrababu Naidu government in transforming the city into a leading biotech hub of the country.

Most vocal among the speakers was the legendary R.A. Mashelkar who pointed to a great confluence of "ambition and ambience" in the 400-year-old city and for rightly staking claim to knowledge hub in this part of the world.

"If at all there is any city that can be called a happening one in the country, then it is Hyderabad," declared the CSIR chief who has closely observed the growth of the city into a R&D platform for many an institution and company of repute.

In this regard, he lauded the achievements of city-based R&D institutions like IICT, CCMB, CDFD etc. He also took note of the pioneering efforts in the pharma and biotech sectors by Hyderabad-based companies such as Dr Reddy's, Shanta Bio, Bharat Bio etc.

With a slew of highly reputed research institutions, a large presence of professionals and a pro-active government, "Hyderabad is definitely the biotech hub of India," he said.

Tata Consultancy Services chief S Ramadorai said that TCS zeroed in on the city for setting up its ambitious project in bioinformatics. The first product 'Bio Suite' would be rolled out in a few months from the city-based bioinformatics division of TCS.

M S Swaminathan, who received the Genome Valley Excellence Award today, said that during the last two decades, the city had made great strides in the field of science. It is an excellent example of how public policy support can stimulate scientific research and technology growth, he said. He called Hyderabad as "the scientific city of India".

He asked the state government to set up a rice biotech park in the Genome Valley, which has an area of 600 sq km, in Ranga Reddy district. He also called upon the organisations in the valley to promote 'genetic literacy' in the country to bridge the genetic divide "which is more dangerous than the digital divide".

The rural populace, who form 70 per cent of the total population, needed to be apprised of the various practices of agri-biotechnology, he said, exhorting the city to make a prominent place for itself in this area too.