Bengaluru, Nov 20 (UNI) The first Karnataka BioEconomy Report (KBER) 2020, launched on Friday at the ongoing Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020, has stated that the State's BioEconomy size is about Rs 167,240 crores (US Dollar 22.6 billion) and growing.

Karnataka is the first state in the country to measure the impact of the biotechnology industry, its products, and services on its economy. The State’s BioEconomy has grown by 14 - 17 per cent in the previous two years, and contributes 10.3 per cent to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of US Dollar 221.82 billion. Nationally, the Bio Economy valued at USD 62.5 billion contributed to 2.3 per cent of India’s USD 2.8 trillion GDP in 2019. Another highlight of the report is that Karnataka contributes more than one-third to the national BioEconomy.

The main recommendations include, establish a Vaccine Hub, BioManufacturing Hub, Enable AgriTech Ecosystem by supporting application of Agri-Biotechnological tools like CRISPR Cas9 (Gene Editing), Molecular Breeding, etc, More value addition in marine biotech, Set up a BioMedical Cluster to make important diagnostic and medical devices, An Integrated Biorefineries Cluster to use available biomass and Value-added agriculture systems in Hassan, Dharwad and Belagavi areas.

Releasing the report, Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, who is also Minister for Electronics, IT, BT and Science and Technology, said: "We are aiming higher and our Government has set a challenging task of more than doubling the value of BioEconomy in the next five years. Our target is to raise Karnataka’s BioEconomy share to 50 per cent of the National BioEconomy revenue target of 100 billion (US Dollar) by the year 2025.

"Our confidence to achieve the target much earlier stems from the fact that Karnataka already has a rich presence of 35 plus 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, Bagalkote 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/EmergeTechcompanies like Zumutor Biologics (Onco-immmunology), Pandorum Technologies (tissue engineering), String Bio (Synthetic Biology), Vipragen Biosciences(Clinical Research) and the most recent, Jiva Sciences, indicate the future potential of the State’s BioEconomy," he added.

With the current growth trends, Karnataka’s BioEconomyis expected to touch USD 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 per cent 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 (USD) BioEconomy valuations by 2025 is achieved by the state," said Dr. A. V. Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Department of Electronics, IT, Bt& S&T.

C N Meena Nagaraj, 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 BioEconomy’s contribution to Karnataka’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) indicates that biotechnology will continue to play a key role in propelling the state’s economic growth in the next few decades."

KBER is an attempt to capture the tremendous efforts that have gone into making Karnataka one of India’s most sought-after biotechnology hubs.

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.

BioEconomy covers all sectors and systems that rely on biological resources (animals, plants, micro-organisms and derived biomass, including organic waste), their functions and principles. It includes and interlinks: land and marine ecosystems and the services they provide; all primary production sectors that use and produce biological resources (agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture); and all economic and industrial sectors that use biological resources and processes to produce food, feed, bio-based products, energy and services.)

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