HYDERABAD: ICICI Knowledge Park (IKP) will float a company by September this year with a seed fund to promote research and development in life sciences and bio-informatics in Hyderabad.

Speaking at the BioAsia-2007, Chief Executive Officer of IKP Deepanwita Chattopadhyay said here on Saturday that the IKP housed ICICI Centre for Technologies in Public Health and ICICI Centre for Advancement in Agricultural Practice. This was intended at imparting knowledge on latest findings from research institutions to farmers.

Ms. Chattopadhyay told The Hindu that the seed fund could be in the range of Rs. 50 crores to Rs. 100 crore. However, it was still in a nascent stage. She also highlighted the need for networking of knowledge parks, besides encouraging entrepreneurship development. Indian companies and research institutions should look forward to trans-national partnerships.

Klaus Plate, CEO of Heidelberg Technology Park in Germany, felt that manufacturing and research institutions should not go after low-cost facilities either in terms of infrastructure or human resources. Though the concessions offered to start-up companies by Government were essential, favouring low-cost destinations would result in compromise in quality of research and product.

Involving economists, businessmen and politicians was important for achieving the desired results in the fields of research and also manufacturing of biotech products, he observed. Deepak Dhanak of Price Waterhouse Coopers made a presentation on the SEZ (special economic zone) policy of the Union Government and the various concessions available to companies in SEZs.

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