Biotechnology will be the key driver of India’s future economy, space and healthcare solutions, said Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, on Friday. Speaking at Symbiosis International University, Pune, Singh called biotechnology the “next industrial revolution.”
The MoS noted how India had already established itself as a global player in biotechnology through breakthroughs such as the indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, HPV vaccine for cervical cancer prevention, the development of new antibiotics, and gene sequencing initiatives.
“Future economy, in fact, belongs to biotechnology, just as the last revolution in the 1990s was driven by information technology,” Singh said.Highlighting government initiatives, the Minister pointed to the launch of the Bio-E3 policy biotechnology for environment, economy, and employment which, he said, is aimed at creating sustainable solutions and jobs for India’s growing youth population.
He added that India’s biotech sector has grown from $10 billion in 2014 to $130 billion, with targets to reach $300 billion in the next five to seven years.Singh also underlined India’s growing engagement with space-biotech research, citing experiments by astronaut Shubhanshu Sharma on the International Space Station (ISS), which studied muscle wasting, the cognitive effects of electronic gadgets, and the growth of algae and proteins in microgravity.
He said these initiatives, which led to an MoU between the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Space, point to the emergence of new fields such as space medicine.Emphasising the need for holistic healthcare, the Minister noted that the Covid-19 pandemic had reinforced the value of integrating traditional Indian systems of medicine with modern science, as doctors worldwide looked to Ayurveda and homoeopathy during the crisis.
He also called for nurturing a skilled workforce through startups and entrepreneurship in life sciences, describing biotechnology as a sector that could generate both jobs and innovation.