Biotechnology in India

The Indian biotechnology sector is one of the fastest growing knowledge-based sectors in India and is expected to play a key role in shaping India's rapidly developing economy. Currently, India holds two per cent share of global market. With numerous comparative advantages in terms of R&D facilities, knowledge, skills, and cost effectiveness, the biotechnology industry in India has immense potential to emerge as a global key player. The Indian biotech market was estimated at US$ 2.80 billion in 2007–08 and is likely grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 per cent. 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. According to a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and consultancy firm KPMG, the Indian biotechnology sector is likely to become a US$ 5 billion industry by 2010. The report stated, "India is ranked among the top 12 biotech destinations in the world and is the third biggest in Asia-Pacific in terms of the number of biotech companies." The sector has been attracting major investments, which have been growing at the rate of about 38 per cent for the last three years, and had touched US$ 560 million in 2006–07. Leading institutes such as the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have made noteworthy contributions to this industry. A growing number of Indian biotechnology firms are now providing research and development (R&D) services to global pharma companies. Companies are providing high level services in drug discovery and validation processes, in the fields of pathway analysis (study of effect of toxic or radioactive substances on humans), genomics (study of gene sequences), proteomics (study of proteins) and translational research (investigation and experiments on patients and volunteers). In this context, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon group has said, "Co-development agreements are leading to interesting models." Several new innovations and opportunities have recently sprung up in the Indian biotech segment. The UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Cooperation (UCSSIC) has acknowledged cashew apple as a substitute to food crops that are currently being used for ethanol production and India is one of the countries being targetted by the UNIDO. India will replace 10 per cent of its transport fuels with biofuels like ethanol and jatropha in the next 10 years to cut carbon emissions. Another step towards maximising energy efficiency is Co-generation - a concept of producing two different forms of energy from one fuel. The bagasse-based co-generation option, which started as a cost-saving measure by sugar companies, is one such profitable option. India is likely to add 1,200 MW bagasse-based power capacities during the 11th Five-Year-Plan. The biomass from bamboo has been found to be a good source of high energy and can be used as green coal, which contains fewer pollutants and is a renewable source of energy. 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 has 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 previous fiscal. Research services touched US$ 500 million and bio-IT (bioinformatics) was US$ 250 million. In 2005–06, the Indian biotechnology industry replicated the previous year's growth rates, with sales growth of 37.42 per cent, touching US$ 1.47 billion in revenues. In the last fiscal, investments increased by 21 per cent at US$ 637,607 million with 48 per cent of the total biotech market shared between the 20 leading Indian companies. As per the findings of the survey, 56 per cent of the sector's revenue (US$ 1.44 billion) came from exports. Around 70 per cent of exports were from bio-pharma and 26 percent from bio-services segments. Further according to the findings, going by the current trend and the new biotech policy of the central government, the sector is poised to generate US$ 13–16 billion by 2015. 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. 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. With exports forming a major chunk of the market, India is a significant exporter of bioinformatics and bioservices. 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 percent. In 2007–08, bio-pharma was the industry's largest sector accounting for almost 70 per cent of the overall revenues and it is likely to touch US$ 4.60 billion by 2012–13. More than 40 per cent of the total 325 biotechnology companies in India are in the biopharma segment. Fuelled by the robust sales of BT cotton, the bio-agriculture sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the industry. With a well-developed R&D capability and a large patient base for clinical trials, the bioservices sector is another sector with great promise. With strong growth in R&D and production, the bio-supplier industry is also on the growth path.