Indian biotech sector to reach $ 5 billion: Report

Bangalore, Oct 7, 2008: According to a report jointly prepared by trade body Confederation of India Industries (CII) and consultancy firm KPMG, the Indian biotechnology sector is predicted to become a five billion-dollar industry by 2010.
"The Indian biotechnology sector has excellent potential and is expected to touch five billion-dollar mark by 2010. 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 report said.
According top the report, availability of talent pool in the country is a big advantage for the Indian companies. The sector employs about 20,000 scientists, with investments growing at the rate of about 38 percent for the last three years.
The report pointed out that educational infrastructure need to be upgraded to facilitate further progress in the industry. "India needs to invest in building a strong capability base in order to leverage large opportunities going forward. There are no shortcuts," said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CEO and MD, Biocon.
According to the report, Biopharma is one of the important segments of the Indian biotechnology sector and it constitutes about 70 percent of the domestic biotech industry.Of the total 325 biotechnology companies in India, more than 40 percent are in the biopharma sector, the report said.