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Karnataka to tap on Centre’s PLI scheme to propel biotech and medical devices investments
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
March 24 , 2022
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Karnataka government is working to tap the central government’s production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to aggressively push for investments in the biopharmaceuticals and medical devices sectors.
The state which is known for an existing bio-cluster and med-technology environment already has the capability through its qualified human resources. Moreover, along with large biotech majors, there are a total of 95 biotech start-ups that were set up in Karnataka in 2021, averaging almost 8 start-ups every month. The R&D spend too by biotech sector here has crossed US$ 180 million.
"We are keen to attract potential investments into the state. Karnataka has emerged as the preferred destination for biotech investments in India. At present, the state hosts about 60% of the biotech companies in the country and employs about 54% of the country’s total biotech workforce”, said Minister for IT/BT and S&T Dr CN Ashwath Narayan.
Participating in the ‘Bioeconomy 2025 and Beyond’ programme organised by ABLE (Association of Bioeconomy Led Enterprises), he said that the Karnataka is already well entrenched in the biotechnology space. The BioEconomy of the State which is currently valued at US$ 24.4 billion contributes 33% of the national share and is on course to achieve US$ 50 billion by 2025.
Going by the expertise in this field, we now need to push for investments in biopharma & medical devices. It is here the Centre’s PLI scheme can provide an opportunity for companies looking for Greenfield expansion can consider Karnataka, the Minister said.
Further, our state government also plans to attract investments in bio-agriculture covering farming and animal husbandry and bio-industrial that includes enzymes, biofuels, biomass, and green chemicals industries. These components of the industry will increase the share of bio-economy. Research and development services, marine biotech and Bio-IT and informatics services will be the focus areas for the over the new few years, he noted.
Another driver of the bio-economy growth is biofuels. Here Karnataka is the third-largest producer of biofuels and is among the states which was able to have reached 9 per cent blending of petrol in 2021.
Vaccines are an integral part of the biotech sector. The state provided nearly 2.3 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines per day totaling 86.4 million doses given in 2021, and Karnataka’s biotechnology industry has been at the forefront of fighting the pandemic by developing and deploying a variety of anti-virals, diagnostic tests, and administering vaccines, he said.
The bio-industrial segment comprising bio-renewables, bioenergy, biofuels, and green chemicals is expected to be the next big segment that can drive future growth. This segment has the potential to increase by 4 fold in its contribution to the bio-economy of the state from US$ 1-2 billion to US$ 6-7 billion.
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