Govt to streamline norms to boost bio-tech industry

Our Corporate Bureau

New Delhi, Dec 3: The government is willing to streamline all regulatory procedures to encourage development of bio-tech industry in India.

Speaking at an interactive session on Gene Tech: the next technological wave at the India Economic Summit-2001, Dr Manju Sharma, secretary, department of biotechnology said, “The government has clear direction and intention, but the problem was speed and there is no flaw in the regulatory framework, but the procedures need to be expedited in a transparent manner.”

Emphasising the role of government in nurturing the bio-tech industry, Dr Sharma said that the government has a separate biotech department since 1985 and all the development research in the field was supported by government funding.

Dr Sharma emphasised that it was important to have strategic alliances with the industry and R&D institutions and the government was keen to go ahead with the strategic alliance for the development of different branches of this knowledge based industry.

Sharat Chandra, professor emeritus, department of microbiology and cell biology, Indian Institute of science, India, said that India offers advantages for the development of this industry.

Moderating the interactive session, Swati Piramal, chief scientific officer, Nicholas Piramal India, said that biotech is a innovative enabling technology that has wide implications on curing diseases, protecting environment and feeding the population effectively.