Tamil Nadu - Erode   

`Opportunities aplenty in biotechnology'

Staff Reporter

Consumption of biotech products to increase

EXPERT SPEAKS: K. Kulandaivel, Chancellor, Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore, on Thursday addressing a conference in Vellalar College for Women at Thindal in Erode. - Photo: M. Govarthan

ERODE: Opportunities in biotechnology are numerous and multifaceted. India is one of the emerging markets in the world and there are several factors that help India develop exceptional capabilities in biotechnology, said K. Kulandaivel, Chancellor, Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore, on Thursday.

Mr. Kulandaivel was inaugurating the international conference on opportunities and challenges in biotechnology and environmental sciences organised by the PG and research department of botany of Vellalar College for Women, Thindal.

The Chancellor said: "A large reservoir of scientific human resource, academic excellence in biosciences, a vibrant pharmaceutical industry and fast developing clinical capabilities collectively point to a booming biotechnology sector in future."

He said the Indian biotechnology sector was poised for exponential growth and expected a global market share of 10 per cent. Indigenous biotech products and services presently accounted for approximately $150 million. He said an emerging segment in agriculture biotechnology would account for at least 15 per cent of the total indigenous biotech market.

"The consumption of biotech products in India is estimated to increase to $1.5 billion by 2007 and to $4.5 billion by 2010. There are 150 biotech companies in India, 75 per cent of them were established in the last five years and they provided job to as many as 15,000 people.

Biotechnology had taken off in the areas of food and agriculture. The cultivation of biotech cotton in China had reduced the use of chemical pesticides. In future, additional applications of biotechnology to food and agriculture could prove useful.

The current segmentation was shared equally between human therapeutics such as vaccines and biogenetics, contract research services including r-DNA technologies, genomic and bioinformatics, and industrial products such as industrial enzymes, diagnostic and bioprocess equipment and instrumentation.

Correspondent S.D. Chandrasekar spoke. Administrative officer of Velalar College of Engineering and Technology P. Sabapathy released the souvenir.

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