Biotechnology

Biotechnology Industry in India Currently holding two per cent share of global market, the biotechnology industry in India has immense potential to emerge as a global key player. Going by a forecast in 'Bio Reality in India: Report 2008', by international real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield, the industry is expected to cross the US$ 5 billion mark, through its products as well as services by 2010. By this time, it is estimated to occupy 140 million square feet of industrial area. An Ernst and Young survey projects India as one of the emerging biotech leaders, ranked third in the Asia-Pacific region, based on the number of biotech companies in the country. Market Size and the Key Opportunity Segments According to an industry survey, carried out by Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE), biotechnology industry in India notched up a growth of 20 per cent during 2007-08 and the revenues earned were worth US$ 2.56 billion as against US$ 2.1 billion during the last fiscal. Research services touched US$ 500 million and bio IT (bioinformatics) was US$ 250 million. Out of the five broad categories-Biopharma, Agri-biotech, Bioinformatics, Bioindustrial and Bioservices-that the biotech industry in India can be divided into, according to the product offerings, the first three are the most important segments according to their revenue contribution. While the bio-pharma segment accounts for two-thirds of the total sector revenue, the agri-biotech sector in India is growing at 30 per cent for the last five years, being the fastest growing industry among all the biotech industries in the country. The Indian bioinformatics market, which deals with creation and maintenance of extensive electronic databases on various biological systems, is set to double by 2010, from US$ 32 million to US$ 62 million by 2010, according to a report by research firm ValueNotes Outsourcing Practice. The segment derives 90 per cent of its revenue from outsourcing. Since the global bioinformatics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent over 2007-10, it would actually be conducive to its growth in India at a rate of 25 per cent. Biotech Hubs Being home to 200 diverse companies, the biotech cluster in Bangalore alone leads the pack, whereas other cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Mumbai also have come up as preferred destinations to set up a biotech facility. According to the Cushman & Wakefield analysis, Bangalore is estimated to witness approximately 6.5 million square feet demand from this sector alone between 2007 and 2010. Hyderabad has witnessed infrastructural development in the biotech domain wherein the Knowledge Park, the Biotech Park, Genome Valley and other projects have come up giving the city an advantage over others. Over 53 international biotech companies have established their operations in the Genome Valley over the last one year. Additionally, this city will witness development of two biotech SEZs and three biotech parks in the next couple of years. A genomics centre is being set up at Tidel Park in Chennai, to explore the Indian genetic pool, leverage on the pool of Indian bioinformatics scientists and low cost software skills, facilitate research and enable entrepreneurs to commercialise their findings. The city will witness development of three more biotech parks and a biotech SEZ in the coming years. In addition to the above, tier II and tier III cities like Vadodara, Coimbatore, Goa, Mysore, Madurai, Kolkata, Gurgaon, Thrissur, Nagpur and Thiruchirapalli have significant potential to emerge as biotech corridors, attracting investments from various stakeholders of the industry.