As a student during early 2000s many were heard of saying “Who Said Biotechnology Lelo Bhut Scope Hai”. This implied that the biotech sector had limited opportunities in 90s and early 2000. The students were not getting enough jobs and research opportunities were very limited. It is estimated that out of 1000 students who were passing out only 5 students were going abroad for PhD and around 20-25 were getting admission in PhD in India. Most of the students were opting for foreign degree because the fellowship was very less in India and jobs after PhD were preferentially reserved for foreign degree holders. The infrastructure for biotech research was not developed and companies were very few and so the jobs for graduates and post graduates.
Development of biotech infrastructure was a challenging avenue for few early biological science leaders who with their efforts have changed the scenario and today India is very well versed with the infrastructure and manpower in biotech sector. The credit goes to many but the role of BIRAC in developing biotech company culture cannot be ignored which is working since 2012 to make Indian biotech sector sustainable. This year BIRAC has celebrated its 10th anniversary showcasing the current strength of biotech startup ecosystem through an event that was organized in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi and was inaugurated by Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India.
On 10th June 2022 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the “Biotech Startup Expo – 2022” at Pragati Maidan, Delhi. Minister of Science and Technology (Independent Charge) and Minister of state (Independent Charge) Ministry of Earth Science Shri Jitendra Singh, Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Textiles, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship were also present at the event. The other eminent personalities who were present on the occasion were Dr Krishna Ella, MD Bharat Biotech, Prof G Padmanabhan, Emeritus Professor, IISC, Dr Srivari Chandrasekhar, secretary, DST, Dr Rajesh Gokhale, secretary, DBT, Dr Renu Swarup, Dr NK Ganguly, Dr. G. Taru Sharma Director NIAB, Dr Nakul Parashar, Director, Vigyan Prasar, DST among others. Around 5000 attendees were present during the 2 day event.
Full Article will be published on June 15th 2022.
