CHENNAI: India has made investments amounting to Rs. 5000 crore in the field of biotechnology, S. Ignacimuthu, director, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai said on Wednesday.

About 300 biotech companies in India could provide employment opportunity for about 20,000 students, he said addressing a seminar on "Current scenario and future prospects of biotechnology," organised at Rajalakshmi Engineering College, near Chennai.

While various aspects of biotechnology were growing fast, plant genetic engineering was area that was growing more rapidly and more widely researched, he observed.

Prof. Surinder Kumar Batra from University of Nebraska, U.S., said biotechnology was a niche area of study that should be offered only at the postgraduate level. And, if offered at the undergraduate level, greater emphasis should be laid on internships that provide extensive opportunity for research.

Dr. P. Kaliraj, professor, Centre for Biotechnology, Anna University, said biotechnology was a research-oriented area of study and this research should reach society. H. Devaraj, Coordinator, Stem Cell Technology Programme, Madras University, said biotechnology should be offered only by the engineering colleges and not by arts and science colleges.

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