New Delhi
The government on Thursday launched BIO-NIVESH, a platform designed to strengthen engagement between biotechnology innovators and investors and accelerate private capital into promising innovations for scale-up and commercialisation across India.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said innovation cannot be completed without investment, while investment cannot sustain itself without innovation. He stressed the need for closer engagement among innovators, investors, industry and the Government for India’s biotechnology-led growth.
Singh said BIO-NIVESH would create a bridge allowing ideas to move from research into industry and markets. During an interactive roundtable with startups and investors, he suggested exploring a “Big Five in Five Years” approach for the biotechnology ecosystem.
The minister said the objective should be to create an ecosystem where science meets capital, innovation meets industry and research meets the market. While the Government can establish enabling conditions and absorb initial risks, he said private capital would remain critical for sustaining growth, building enterprises and scaling technologies.
Singh described biotechnology as a driver of the next industrial revolution and cautioned that India should not repeat its experience during the IT revolution, when the country entered a decade late.
He said initiatives such as BIO-NIVESH are intended to position India to capture opportunities emerging from the next phase of technology-led growth. Singh also cited the opening of the space sector to private participation, which has generated interest among investors.
