‘Bio-economy may touch $200 billion’

These are exciting times for India’s biopharma and agro-economies as these sectors are set to boom in the near future, according to Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon.
Participants in these segments, including farmers, are increasingly realising the value of data they are generating on a daily basis. Intelligent data mining will lead to knowledge creation, product innovations, accurate diagnostics and cost-effective healthcare, she said, addressing a session on “India’s Growing Bio Economy.”
Ms. Shaw said the country’s bio-economy sector was set to touch $200 billion by 2030.
Pointing out that in India, the investment in research and development was less than 1% of GDP, she said, “We must invest at least 2% of our GDP in science, technology (S&T) and research. We have to up our investments in basic research, applied research and translational research.

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“America has increased is focus on S&T, Brazil spends 2.5% of its GDP and Russia spends upwards of 2%,’’ she added.
Ms. Shaw said that India’s education system must embrace research culture and leverage the powerful tool of scientists and engineers available in the country.
Gene sequencing cost
“Gene sequencing cost has come down substantially, which can be utilised for diagnosis of critical disease and in other areas — Indian companies can hugely benefit from gene sequencing,’’ she added.
Farmers generate a large amount of data and this opens up opportunity for data analytics and big data firms in the country.
“Interestingly, India has 15 agro-climatic zones.
“We have unique flora, fauna and ayurvedic plants. We need to create IP (intellectual property) around them and create value around data,’’ the CMD of Biocon added.