Releasing India’s Bioeconomy Report 2022, Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that India’s Bioeconomy has reached over 80 billion US Dollars in 2021 recording a 14.1% growth of over $70.2 billion in 2020. Noting the rapid growth in the sector, the Minister said, Bioeconomy will be key to India’s future economy over the next 25 years.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh urged all the stakeholders of the Biotech sector, particularly Industry, Startup Ecosystem, Investors, Scientists, Scholars, Entrepreneurs and enablers like DBT, BIRAC to collectively work to achieve the ambitious target.

He further said, In the last 10 years, the number of Biotech Start-ups in the country has increased from 50 to over 5,300, because of the growing enabling ecosystem and prioritization provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dr Jitendra Singh also launched a special Biotech Ignition Grant call for North East Region (BIG-NER) and announced financial support of up to Rs 50 Lakhs each to 25 startups and entrepreneurs from North East Region to develop biotech solutions.

India is among the top 3 in South Asia and the top 12 destinations for biotechnology in the world, with approximately a 3% share in the global biotechnology industry. Moreover, India has 2nd highest number of USFDA-approved manufacturing plants outside the US, the Minister added.

What is Bioeconomy?

According to Wikipedia, a Biobased economy, bioeconomy is an economic activity involving the use of biotechnology and biomass in the production of goods, services, or energy. This includes the application of scientific and technological developments to agriculture, health, chemical, and energy industries  The terms bioeconomy (BE) and bio-based economy (BBE) are sometimes used interchangeably. However, it is worth distinguishing them: the biobased economy takes into consideration the production of non-food goods, whilst bioeconomy covers both the bio-based economy and the production and use of food and feed.