Discusses action plan for $100 billion targets in two-day plenary sessions attended by more than 1500 eminent scientists, entrepreneurs, policymakers and civil society
Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India organised a two-day ‘Global Biotechnology Summit’ brought together around 1500 participants to discuss opportunities, collaborate and prepare a joint action plan for achieving the target for its biotech sector of $100 billion by 2020.
The Summit, organised on the occasion the 30th Foundation Day of the Department of Biotechnology, was reportedly attended by more than 1500 participants including eminent scientists from national and international public and private sector organisations, universities, delegations from state governments, representatives and delegations from other countries with which DBT partners, students, research fellows, biotech start-up entrepreneurs, policy-makers, civil society and so on. Also present on the occasion were Former Secretaries of DBT.
Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science & Technology & ES was the Chief Guest for the occasion. Guests of Honour were Radha Mohan Singh, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Commerce & Industry and YS Chowdary, Minister of State, Ministry of Science & Technology and ES.
Congratulating the DBT, its staff and the scientific community, Dr Vardhan in his inaugural address said, “Over 30 years, DBT has achieved several heights and connected research to the needs of the people. Biotechnology has become a crucial arm of the Make in India campaign. The message of the Summit is very clear. India is ready to be a global biotech destination.”
The mega event showcased India’s biotechnology strength and capacity to attract investors and other key partners to invest in the biotech sector in India. The summit was a well planned follow-up to the Prime Minister’s call for Make in India to encourage the start-up ecosystem which has a potential for scale-up.
There were key plenary talks by Prof Ada E Yonath, Nobel Laureate, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel and Prof Maria Leptin, EMBO- Excellence in Life Sciences, Heidelberg, Germany.
“Through its wonderful work the DBT has been actively contributing to some of the key initiatives of the government of India and contributed to multifarious areas like healthcare, agricultural, environmental and industrial. We are ready to launch the Start-up Ecosystem which will contribute immensely to achieving our target of $100 billion by 2025,” said YS Chowdhury, Minister of State for Science and Technology.
The Summit focused on themes such as Make in India, Start-up India – Nurturing Bio Entrepreneurship, Skill India, Biotech Opportunities and Action for Swachh Bharat and Swasth Bharat, Biotechnology Cooperation, Biotechnology Innovation for Inclusive Development, Biotechnology and Society etc.
“Steered under the leadership of brilliant minds over the years, biotechnology in India has crossed significant milestones. With the experience of 30 years, DBT’s endeavour will be to further improve our processes and culture so that we expand our reach and depth effectively,” said Professor Vijay Raghavan, Secretary DBT.
Plenary talks and panel discussions helped align the goals of the biotech strategy with the policies of the state governments and prepare a joint action plan.
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