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MONDAY,
January 5th 2004.
DECCAN CHRONICLE, HYDERABAD |
MONDAY ONE-ON-ONE - Bibhu prasad acharya,
" AP has set the stage for
biotech sector to grow"
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Bibhu
Prasad Acharya completed 20 years in the Indian Administrative
Service last year. In the past two decades, Acharya,
who belongs to the Andhra Pradesh cadre of the service,
worked as Sub-Collector in Bhadrachalam, District Collector
of Warangal, Managing Director of AP Tourism Development
Corp., Director of Marketing, Commissioner of Information
and later, relief. Along with way, he won the Governor's
Citation for relief work during the floods which ravaged
Bhadrachalam, and a masters degree in development from
Manchester University. He has been Secretary, Industries
and Commerce, to the government, in charge of the Biotechnology,
Apparel, Leather, Sugar and Handlooms industry since
2001. But it is his work in the biotechnology sector
that has given Acharya a high-profile. Excerpts from
an interview with Shaukat H. Mohammed
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Okay,
the state government announced a Biotech Policy back in
May, 2001. What has the state achieved since then?
Andhra Pradesh was the second State in the country to
announce a Biotech Policy. The policy gives some sales
tax concessions to companies investing in the biotechnology
sector in the State. But the challenge was get all the
elements required for making the sector successful. Towards
this end, the government has helped in creating the Genome
Valley, which extends over 600 km. It includes research
organizations like Indian Institute of Chemical Technology.
Centre for D.NA Finger-printing and Diagnostics and National
Institute of Nutrition, the ICICI Knowledge Park and SP
Biotech Park. The APIDC has launched a venture capital
fund for biotechnology while the State government has
launched a research development fund of its own, with
a corpus of Rs 10 crore.
That's fine, but what are the tangible benefits of these
exercises?
They have given Andbra Pradesh the critical mass to emerge
as the State where biotechnology companies can set up
shop and flourish. There is a lot of interaction between
industry and research organizations. IC1CIKP is the place
where entrepreneurs can set up their R&D facilities, while
their production facilities can be set up in Biotech Park.
Several companies have set up their facility in both parks,
including Biological E and Sigma-Aldrich of the US. Fourteen
companies have booked space in Biotech Park. In the past
six months, several MNCs like Johnson & Johnson have shown
interest in building R&D facilities in Genome Valley.
Power and water supply are the two major problems facing
industry in the State. Is it any different in Genome Valley?
Both parks are plug-and-play places, where companies
can get to work quickly. The parks have uninterrupted
power supply. We are investing Rs 30 crore in a water
supply project to the parks. Apart from this, the Indian
Council of Medical Research is setting up an animal farm
where biotech companies can conduct their tests. The Department
of Biotechnology is setting up a biotech incubator at
the IICT which can be used by biotech companies. The Genome
Valley will be the hub of biotechnology in the country
over the next two years. What is the State of play
with the MoUs signed between the State government and
various research organizations in the US and elsewhere?
Our initial effort was to tie-up with the Research
Triangle in North Carolina in the US. The University of
Hyderabad has tied with the Pacific Region Grid Middleware
programme based in San Diego, California. This will give
us access to a supercomputer. Sun Microsystems will be
setting up a CoE at CDFD at an estimated cost of $6 million.
Any Intellectual Property Rights developed by the centre
will remain with the CDFD.
But no major pharmaceutical or biotechnology company
has shown interest in either the ICICI Knowledge Park
or the Biotech Park, isn 't it?
Yes, most of the enterprises in both parks are to be set
up by Non-Resident Indians. Some of these projects are
in the process of financial closure. Unlike an IT company,
biotechnology ventures take a longer gestation period.
Banks take longer in extending credit to biotechnology
companies. And like I said several major pharmaceutical
companies, both from India and abroad, have shown interest
in the parks, and we believe it is just a matter of time
before big companies are convinced about the facilities
available in Genome Valley.
Will BioAsia 2004, which the government is organizing
in February, be another of those talk shops which such
events normally are?
Not at all. Firstly, it is not an event organised
by the government for the government. BioAsia is the first
major biotechnology event in Asia. Europe has got Biotechnica,
the US has Bio, while biotechnology companies in Asia
don't have a forum where they share ideas and network.
BioAsia will be providing the forum. We expect biotechnology
firms from China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore
to participate in the event, and network with their opposite
numbers in India. |
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