Karnataka's bio-economy size put at $22.6 billion

Bengaluru: The first Karnataka BioEconomy Report (KBER) 2020 was launched on the second day of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020. The report estimates that the State's bio-economy size is at US$ 22.6 billion and growing.

According to the report, the State is the first in the country to measure the impact of the biotechnology industry, its products, and services on its economy. It further elaborates that its bio-economy has grown by 14 - 17% in the previous two years, and contributes 10.3% to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of $ 221.82 billion. Nationally, the bio-economy valued at $62.5 billion contributed to 2.3% of India's $2.8 trillion GDP in 2019. Another highlight of the report is that Karnataka contributes more than one-third to the national bio-economy.

"We are aiming higher and our government has set a challenging task of more than doubling the value of bio-economy in the next five years. Our target is to raise Karnataka's share to 50% of the national bio-economy revenue target of $100 billion by the year 2025, said Dr. C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Electronics, IT, BT & S&T, while releasing the report.

He further added, "Our confidence to achieve the target much earlier stems from the fact that Karnataka already has a rich presence of 35+ State and Central research institutes. Initiatives like the upcoming bio-industry cluster at Bengaluru, Helix Biotech Park at Electronics City, state-of-the-art bio-incubators in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Dharwad, Bagalkot and Udupi, and seed funding support for more than 150 biotech startups under Elevate Idea2PoC opens new growth opportunities for the sector. Additionally, equity-based investment made through Bio-venture Fund (KITVEN 2 & 3) in DeepTech/EmergeTech companies like Zumutor Biologics (Onco-immmunology), Pandorum Technologies (tissue engineering), String Bio (Synthetic Biology), Vipragen Bioscieces (Clinical Research) and the moset recent, Jiva Sciences, indicate the future potential of the State's BioEconomy."

"With the current growth trends, Karnataka's bioe-conomy is expected to touch $42 billion by the year 2025. "So to bridge the gap in likely revenues, the report recommends a series of strategic initiatives to overcome this hurdle and cross the target in time, in the continuing spirit of the state's industry, policy makers and Government working together with a visionary approach," said Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of the Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology (VGBT) and Biocon Group.

"The first Karnataka BioEconomy Report (KBER) has laid out the strategy to further propel the biotechnology sector that contributes more than 10% to the state's economy and the Department of Electronics, IT, BT & S&T looks forward to work with all BioEconomy stakeholders to ensure that the challenging target of $50 billion BioEconomy valuations by 2025 is achieved by the state," said Dr. A. V. Ramana Reddy, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T.

Meena Nagaraj C.N, Managing Director, Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) said, "Our department has been at the forefront of devising policies and strategies to harness the power of biotechnology for the growth of the State. The double-digit share of bio-economy's contribution to State's GSDP indicates that biotechnology will continue to play a key role in propelling the State's economic growth in the next few decades".

Also, released on the occasion was the E-booklet "IBAB - Idea to Achievement" and informational video chronicling the establishment of Bengaluru Helix Biotech Park in 86 acres of land at Electronics City with Academic institutions (IBAB & CHG), Innovation Zone (Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre) and the Bio-Industry Cluster.