Bhubaneswar: On the concluding day of the Make in Odisha Conclave 2018 Thursday, Science & Technology Minister Badri Narayan Patra released the Biotechnology Policy 2018.
Krishna Ella, Founder of Bharat Biotech, said the state’s biotech policy is the best in the country. He complimented the speed and urgency with which the state government works. He expressed his intention to invest Rs 500 crore and said that Biotech Pharma Park on 64 acres of land on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar will start functioning soon.
Addressing the audiences the minister said, “This (policy) is the result of a wide-range of discussions and inputs from various industry stakeholders, which have been incorporated in this robust policy.” The development of the biotechnology sector in the state will be based on three key pillars – innovation, entrepreneurship and investment, he pointed out. “We will provide full support for the development of the sector by forming public–private partnership, bio-incubation centres and biotech finishing schools,” he added.
Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi highlighted how the IT sector has “transformed” the country and the world, and said biotech is another such emerging technology. “We have signed an agreement with ITES, Singapore to build a skill development center in Bhubaneswar,” he added.