With this, structural molecular biology as a discipline of research took firm roots in the country. And leading scientists in the country say that this remarkable development was also the beginning of modern biotechnology in India. After spending nearly 20 years in Chennai, Prof Ramachandran moved to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and set up the Molecular Biophysics Unit. India’s biotechnology sector has not looked back since then.

From Chennai and Bangalore, biotechnology activities have moved to many corners of the country. Now the activities are fairly widespread. The North, South and the Western regions of the country have seen the rise of varied biotech infrastructure— companies, educational insitutions, research centers, repositories of national biotech wealth and of course policy makers who chart the growth of this industry.

This industry is growing in the same manner as that of its counterparts in other parts of the world. Scientific laboratories have concentrated on tackling the fundamental questions and develop applications, entrepreneurs taking over at this stage and take these products and services to the commercialization stage with government support and funds from private and corporate investors. And most of these developments have taken place in clusters with one or two leading institutions acting as the core. In the US, where the biotech biotech industry is the most advanced in the world, bulk of the activities take place in seven clusters.

In the last two decades, biotech industry has taken firm roots in at least 17 other clusters worldwide. The first global listing of global bio clusters does not include the efforts in India as the size has yet to reach a critical mass.

Where is the action in biotechnology in India? A few hundred research centers and neary 200 companies form the core of the biotech segment in India. BioSpectrum has compiled a list of India’s leading bio clusters. There are 10 clusters where India’s biotechnology activities are concentrated. Which are they? Read on.

North

National Capital Region

The National Capital Region is a 1,000-sq.km territory comprising the Capital city of New Delhi, the industrial suburbs of Gurgaon in the southwest in the state of Haryana, the NOIDA region in the south east in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in the Ministry of Science and Technology is the center of the biotech universe not only in the North but the whole country as it formulates the policies and strategies for the development of this sector. The Rajiv Gandhi government set up DBT in 1986 as the world’s first government ministry dedicated exclusively to the biotechnology sector. DBT channelizes the funds, provides scientific inputs for poicy formulations, handles some of the key regulatory agencies in the sector and interacts with the government agencies abroad.

New Delhi is also home to four other key government departments—the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment and Forests—which are involved closely with the development of biotechnology. Two other important government agencies—the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) which runs a chain of 39 laboratories out of which 12 are dominant players in biotech and the Indian Council of Agricutlural Research (ICAR) with its 91 laboratories out of which at least 20 do top end research in biotech, are also headquartered in the Capital.

New Delhi is also home to a large number of national and international research centers. At the top of the heap is the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biology (ICGEB). This UN funded institution has major research activities in genetics based out of New Delhi. ICGEB has another wing in Trieste, Italy. It was set up in 1995 and is supported with funds by 26 countries.

An Indian version of ICGEB is the Institute of Genetics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), a laboratory under the CSIR . It is also located in North Delhi adjoining the Delhi University campus along with ICGEB. The National Institute of Immunology (NII) funded by the DBT and set up in 1987 in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in South West Delhi is another top research center. The JNU also conducts research on developing genetically modified (GM) food products and is a major teaching center for biotechnology. Besides, JNU coordinates the national entrance examination to select students for post graduate programs in biotechnology in nearly two dozen top institutions in the country. Supported by DBT, this rigorous selction process is similar to that of the one conducted to enrol students for the graduate engineering programs in the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The National Research Center DNA Finger Printing is the latest research center in the Capital region.

BioAgriculture research activities are also concentrated in the Capital. India’s premier farm research center, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), is located in the heart of Central Delhi. IARI’s research teams are developing at least half-a-dozen GM food products and is also the home of some of the nation’s top agriculture experts. IARI was shifted to New Delhi from Pusa in Bihar in the 1920s. The National Bureau of Plant Genetics Resources (NBPGR) on the IARI campus is the home to the germplasm collections of all the crop varieties in India and abroad. In the 1990s, the National Research Center of Plant Biology under ICAR was set up the Capital.

Business too blooms

Of course, NCR is not just dominated by the government sector. Nearly 50 biotech companies operate in the NCR. The leader is the global giant
Eli Lilly which has based its operations in Gurgaon and is concentrating on conducting clinical trials of nearly 20 biotech drugs from it global portfolio in India. One of the top Indian pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories has also made major investments in setting up its biotechnology division in Gurgaon. J Mitra and Company, based in New Delhi, is a dominant national player in diagnostic kits based on bitoech. Companies like Panacea Bitoech, Mascon Life Science, Biotech International, BioTox , Nunhems Seeds, Jubilant Biosys , Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) are among the leading companies in the region.

The first biotech industry association, the All India Biotech Association (AIBA) operates out of New Delhi. Two leading industry associations, the Confederation of India Industry (CII) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), based in the Capital , have been promoting biotech in a big way in the last five years. CII has started ot organize an annul biotech show and ASSOCHAM has been organizing a Biotechnology Millennium Summit for three years. Both the organizations have been taking up the problems of the biotech industry strongly with the government.

The Noida region is being developed as a "biotechnology corridor" by the Uttar Pradesh government. A large number of bioinformatics companies have started operations in this region. Many of these, like the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Bioinformatics Institute of India etc are also offering bioinformatics courses to hundreds of students every year.

Uttaranchal The Biotech Valley?

The picturesque Uttaranchal nestling in the lap of Himalayas in developing as the Biotech Valley. The 27th state of India created in 2000 is banking on its rich diversity of flora and fauna, rare species of plants and animals and other natural resources to spur the biotechnology industry. The state has engaged its leading research institution, the G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Rabo India Finance and the Infrastructure Development Finance Company to chalk out a biotech strategy. There are also plans to set up an Institute of Biotechnology in the state.

Right now the G B Pant University in Pantnagar is the fulcrum of Uttaranchal’s biotech activities. As the nation’s first full fledged agriculture university, it has invested heavily in research in areas like microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, etc, since it’s inception. These efforts have made significant strides in plant breeding, plant pathology, horticulture, process engineering and food technology.

Currently, the university is working on various projects in biotechnology in the areas of crop biotechnology, biological control, biofertilizers, process engineering, funded by the DBT besides its own efforts in the areas of vaccine development, immunodiagnostics, embryo transfer technology and plant tissue culture.

The Bioinformatics Center set up recently in the university has fulfilled the long-standing need to improve the communication facility in this remote area. It facilitates access to relevant biotechnology information by the scientific community, researchers and students of the University as well as others from nearby institutions.

"The field of biotech is an emerging field. This field offers scope for a lot more technology gdevelopments. We are very much focussed on joining the main stream and work according to the requirements of industry. That is why, bioinformatics is our core area of focus." said Dr Anil Kumar, handling the bioinformatics center in the university.

Punjab The Biotech Destination

Long before biotechnology became a fashionable sector, the CSIR set up the Institute for Microbial Technology (IMTECH) in Chandigarh to take up research in microbial bio-processing in 1984. The Central Scientific and Industrial Organization (CSIO) too has been developing a number of biotech based diagnostic kits. These two centers form the nucleus of the biotech research center in the region.

Being a predominantly agriculture-based economy, Punjab has been trying to use biotech inputs in agriculture.

Now the state is developing a Biotechnology Park in the suburbs of Chandigarh to nurture commercially viable leads through companies. The first cluster would comprise of 10-15 industrial units in agri-biotech and health care sectors. " We are engaging Beckons Industries Limited to develop the first cluster. Subsequently, additional clusters will be established to expand the park," said S S Marwaha,, director (Biotechnology), Punjab State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST), the nodal agency to handle biotech developments in the state.

The PSCST plans to facilitate the sourcing of technological know-how and Beckons would market the products to be generated by the biotech industry in the first cluster. ‘Punjab Biotechnology Park Limited’, is a public-private partnership company has been registered to look after the developmental activities of this cluster. About 20 industrial houses/entrepreneurs have already approached the company to enter into agreement for setting up of first biotech units within the park.

A Biotech Incubator is proposed to be an integral component of this park. The incubator facility would offer enterprise development support for biotech companies across the development spectrum thereby playing a significant role in accelerating biotechnology commercially.

The state also plans to develop the infrastructure for R&D, data validation, ommercialization and public awareness in the area of biotechnology. "About 100 postgraduates including masters and doctorates and more than 200 graduates in different fields of biotechnology/bioengineering are being produced every year from these institutions. In this way the state is producing technical work force for the biotech industry," added Dr Marwaha

Punjab has also announced a state-level biotech policy on February 28 in 2003. The salient features of the policy are:

• Ensuring availability of trained manpower.

• Development of quality infrastructure.

• Providing supportive environment.

• Special incentives and exemptions.

• Additional incentives for mega/ pioneering projects.

A series of fiscal incentives and a liberal regulatory regime too have been announced to facilitate the growth of the segment in the state.

A Punjab Biotechnology Promotion Board (PBPB) with the chief minister as its chairman and members from the planning & development departments of the state, biotech industry, biotech consultants and financial institutions as well as some progressive farmers and NGOs too has been set up.

Lucknow The Biotech City

When you embark on a tour of Lucknow city, you will find a fair number of big, beautiful buildings. These are not just architectural wonders. They are some of the modern temples where pioneering research work is going on. There are in fact four research centers run by the CSIR. These are NBRI ( National Botanical Research Center), CIMAP ( Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants), ITRC ( Industrial Technology Research Center)and the famous historical Chattar Manzil of CDRI (Central Drug Research Institute). Together these centers represent the core of the emergence of Lucknow as a Biotech City.

Dr PK Seth,the former director of Indian Toxicology Research Centre and Co-ordinator of the Biotech-Park project has some promising expectations with the project. "The strength of Lucknow in this field has been acknowledged by the scientific community. Before we actually started working on this project, we had analyzed that the city has around 20 institutions which are working in the field of biotech. Apart from these four CSIR labs, some of the major strengths of Lucknow in biotech area include three ICAR labs, Chattarpati Shahuji Maharaj Medical College (formerly known as KGMC), Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences. Low cost of R&D facilities of 26 scientific institutions is an attraction for outsourcing research to Lucknow or its neighboring cities. Another source of attraction to the industry is it’s trained manpower. The city has over 400 scientists, technicians and 500 research students."

The Central and state governments are pulling out all stops to ensure that Lucknow becomes the "Biotech City." Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, who represents the Lucknow parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha, set the ball rolling in January 2002 to announce the city’s biotech campaign. Various state and central government agencies are involved in this campaign. A biotech park will come up on an 8-acre campus on the city outskirts. The Park will also establish a network between all scientific institutes in Lucknow and other cities. A website www.biotechcitylucknow.org has also been been set up.

A number of top biotech industries such as Dabur Research Foundation, Shantha Biotechnics and Bharat Biotech may set up operations at the park soon. A special biofertilizer unit will be established there and tissue culture facility will also be set up in the park. The project cost has been estimated at Rs 18.7 crore.

All the eminent scientists of Lucknow are involved in the project. Dr P Pushpangadan, director NBRI, is also very enthusiastic about the project and said, "This park will certainly bring good employment opportunity and value for the Lucknow scientists. As far as the participation of NBRI is concerned, the entire scientific community here is eager to explore the biotech market through this park. Exposure for not only local but also, all north Indian scientific community will gain high momentum at the Biotech Park. It is also good that it will be linked with other biotech parks of the country."

There are other biotech activities too in the city. A Bioinformatics Center, supported by the DBT and CSIR has been set up at ITRC as a networking site. This center has established links with various biotechnology institutions.

Another biotech park will soon be set up in the campus of the Remote Sensing Application Center of the Department of Space. It will have industrial modules and bio-business center and training laboratories.

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