SME Times News Bureau | 21 Nov, 2019
Union Minister for
Science & Technology Harsh Vardhanhas said India has the potential to
emerge as the world’s top industry destination in biotechnology sector.
Addressing the
Inaugural function of the 3-day Global Bio-India Summit, 2019 in New Delhi on
Thursday, Harsh Vardhan said India has the expertise and the biotechnology
sector has witnessed exponential growth in recent decades.
Government has
encouraged the sector by setting up hundreds of Biotechnology Parks and
Incubators while thousands of Start-ups have been supported by the Government,
he added.
Harsh Vardhan said the
Prime Minister has set a target of making India the top country in Science
& Technology by 2030.
As compared to 5%
growth in scientific publications worldwide, India has notched a growth of 14%
in this sphere, he said.
“We have developed a
number of vaccines and the rotavirus vaccine is now a part of the National
Immunization programme, besides our laboratories have also produced vaccines
against dengue and malaria. We are No.3 in Nanotechnology and our Tsunami Early
Warning System has been ranked No.1 in the world”, he added.
Vardhan said India
plays a pioneering role in the UN sponsored Mission Innovation (MI) programme
and is the leading country in three MI challenges on Smart Grids, Off-Grid
Access to Electricity and Sustainable Biofuels.
He said we are a “Changed India” today, and as
Shri Narendra Modi has aimed, we will make a “New India” by 2022 and finally we
aim to be the world leader, “Vishwa Guru”.
Vardhan said
Biotechnology serves mankind helping in to move towards a biotechnology-led
economy, transforming as many lives as possible, creating opportunities and
promising development for all.
He encouraged young
innovators and entrepreneurs in the Biotech sector to come forward for the
development of the country.
“Government of India
will support and assist their ideas to make it a reality. He said, as per the
vision of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the wave of Information
Technology 20 years ago is India Today and Biotechnology is the India
tomorrow”, he said.
Speaking on the
occasion, the Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri
Dharmendra Pradhan said the Government has set a target to achieve 20% ethanol
blending of automotive fuels. “When we took charge ethanol blending was less
than 1%, today it has increased to 6% and further we have targettedto achieve
20% ethanol blending”, he said.
Pradhan said we are
committed to work towards greater decarbonisation and make India a gas based
economy. Bio-energy will play an important role in this, he said.
“Through innovations
developed by our bio-energy scientists we are now working on utilising waste
biomass by converting it into Biofuels. With 600MT of biomass, which can be
used as raw material, India remains the only country with highest scope for
growth of Biofuels”, he added.
“In future ethanol will
be produced from raw materials like, excess food grains, to help transform our
'Annadatas' to 'Urjadatas.'With 600MT of biomass, which can be used as raw
material, India remains the only country with highest scope for growth of
Biofuels”, said Pradhan.
Harsh Vardhan and Dharmendra
Pradhan later inaugurated the Global Bio-India Exhibition.