This article is written by Chandana Pradeep, from the School of Law, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun. This article analyzes and gives an overview of the biotechnology parks present in India.

Introduction

Definition of biotechnology is the manipulation (as through genetic engineering) of living organisms or their components to produce useful usually commercial products (such as pest-resistant crops, new bacterial strains, or novel pharmaceuticals).

Biotechnology parks are similar to information technology parks, which were introduced to develop the scope of the information technology sector, this was created with the same intention.

These parks are established to advance products and technology in the field of biotechnology and to produce enough research and entrepreneurs to invest their time and energy into making this sector into a much more prominent sector in India.

Concept of biotechnology parks

In India, the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1986, the Department of biotechnology was introduced. India has been supporting the growing scope of biotechnology recently and for that, there has been a lot of development in the area of biotechnology-related institutes or to fulfill the requirements that are needed.

Just like how the concept of Information Technology parks developed in India, biotechnology parks were also introduced so that there can be an increase in the growth of the biotechnology sector and not remain static as it was a few years back.

The idea of these biotechnology parks have been borrowed from foreign countries, where there will be attention given only to the sector of biotechnology, by doing so there are a lot of benefits such as:

• It is huge support given to new companies that are just starting their business, which they have initiated through any technologically integrated innovative ideas.
• A closed environment is created where these biotechnology-related companies can interact with large global companies and this will prove to benefit the companies mutually.
• Formal connections can be maintained with various organisations that research areas related to biotechnology.

Need for biotechnology parks

There are many reasons which biotechnology parks are needed, there has been no growth in the field of biotechnology and it has been static for a very long time, because of which there are many difficulties that are being faced by the entrepreneurs who are starting their business in the field of biotechnology. Therefore the introduction of biotechnology parks is needed for various reasons such as:

• This industry needs a long time for their inventions to develop and progress in the commercial market, as well as a huge capital, is needed that is to be invested to start a venture in the field of biotechnology, for which getting any sort of financial help from any source is a very hard task to do.
• There are no proper incentives that are given for companies to take on high-risk projects
• There are no public-private relationships in the field of biotechnology.
• There is no adequate technological know-how in this field, and the only available technology is old machines which will not be of much use in this field, as the latest technology is needed for the latest inventions.
• Lots of laws to follow in India, which makes it very hard for companies to set up a place in the commercial market individually.
• Manpower is very less in India, and this is one of the factors that is necessary.
• Projects are started without having proper knowledge about what it is that people are venturing out to, so there is always a risk of failure.
• Nobody has specialised in any domain-related areas that will help for the project, and there is only broad knowledge about a particular project topic, which makes it very difficult for people to analyse the pros and cons before starting with a project.

Schemes for biotechnology parks

For the growth of the biotechnological field, there have been schemes that have been developed by the government called the National Biotechnology Park Scheme under the Department of biotechnology, where the government will help fund and give financial help to set up these biotechnology parks throughout India.

The objectives which are being aimed by making these biotechnology parks are the following:

• To promote biotechnology and the scope of it through the whole country.
• To have high-quality facilities and infrastructure to help with the manufacturing and production of these inventions.
• To have an ecosystem that is favourable for these inventions to prosper.
• To encourage entrepreneurship.
• To increase the competitiveness in the field of biotechnology by providing enough rewards and necessary items for promoting the field.

Functions of biotechnology parks

• Encourage and help in the process of developing innovative biotechnological inventions
• To provide sufficient facilities so that the process of developing the biotechnological inventions are not hampered. Facilities include types of equipment etc.
• There should be separate units provided for trial and commercial purposes for these inventions.
• Consultancy services to be provided especially in fields such as Intellectual Property Rights to those who do not have sufficient knowledge about these areas and require help for the proper functioning of their inventions.
• To provide land that is cost-effective so that, activities relating to biotechnology could be carried out.

Growth of biotechnology parks

The growth of biotechnology started in 1986 when the Ministry of Science and Technology established a department focusing only on biotechnology. In the year 1990, there was a Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL)  which was established by the Government of India.

The functions of BCIL mainly involve the development of technology and the commercialisation of these products in the market. Then slowly, there was progress being made which introduced State Biotechnology Parks, where Karnataka was the first State that promoted biotechnology, later various other States such as Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, etc. joined to implement the Biotechnology policy.

The BCIL has various subschemes already in place and working efficiently, a few of their scheme include the Small Business Innovation Research Initiative, Biotech Industrial Training Programme, and Biotech Industry Partnership Programme.

BCIL helps in making project reports for the biotechnology parks and is a key player in promoting the field of biotechnology.

Examples of biotechnology parks

There are various biotechnology parks in existence, few of them are:

Genome Valley

Genome Valley is located in Hyderabad and it has a lot of knowledge parks, facilities that provide and promote biotechnological products and inventions. It has two biotechnology parks in the valley which are Alexandria Knowledge Park and IKP Knowledge Park. This valley is also known as a vaccine hub owing to the different sorts of vaccines that have been created in this valley.

Golden Jubilee Biotech Park for Women Society

This park was built along with all the needs of a biotechnology park, to provide jobs for qualified women and to also create a link between the rural and urban culture.

All the materials that are used for the creation of inventions are mostly sourced directly from the farmers. This biotechnology park is located in the city of Kanchipuram in the state of Tamil Nadu.

KINFRA Biotech Park

Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation has set up a biotechnology Incubation Centers. This biotechnology park has out of the world facilities to provide for this field and ensure inventions adequately take place.

Kribs Bionest, Kochi, Kerala

This has been established so that the process of research and development can be benefited in the Kerala Biotechnology Park in 4 acres of land with a total built-up area of 50,000 sq. ft. presently, this facility is being managed by Kerala Startup Mission (KUSUM) and RGCB and has been functional since the year 2009.

Biotechnology Park, Chhattisgarh

The Biotech Parks in the State of Chhattisgarh has been sanctioned by the DBT at a total cost of 2968.39 lakhs to be shared between DBT (Rs.1473.05 lakhs) and Govt. of Chhattisgarh (Rs. 1495.34 lakhs) in July 2018 for a period of two years. This facility was developed so that innovation and development could take place by making use of the biological resources present.

Biotechnology and TRIPS

Patent law applies to biotechnology aspects too. One set of issues relates to the scope and legal standards of patent protection. While in principle, following the Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), patents are available for any invention in any fields of technology, the issue of the patentability of biological materials, isolated or derived from naturally occurring living organisms, has triggered widespread discussions. Some argue that such biological materials are mere “discoveries”, and therefore not patentable, while others argue that they are man-made “inventions”.

It was decided that the patent for any biotechnological development could only be given if it fulfilled certain criteria and where there can be the practical use of the invention made. Before these biological resources can be patented various other parts have to be looked into such as the World Trade organisation, biodiversity, saving the ecosystem, etc.

There are certain items in biotechnology that cannot have a patent granted and they are the following:

1. An invention would not be patentable if it is immoral or against public order, harmful to human, animal or plant life or harmful to the environment.
2. Discovery of living things or non-living substances in nature.
3. Plants and animals in whole or any parts thereof other than micro-organisms but including seeds, varieties and species.
4. Essentially biological processes for the production or propagation of plants and animals.
5. Any Process for the medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic or other treatment of human beings or animals to render them free of disease or to increase their economic value or that of their products.
6. New use or new property of a known substance.
7. Methods of agriculture or horticulture.
8. Traditional knowledge.

Biotechnology and COVID-19

The pandemic has surged the demand for biotechnologists, as the whole world has gone into lockdown and without the development of a vaccine, this disease that is spreading and creating mutations of itself cannot be curbed.

There are millions of research organisations in India and abroad that have been working on creating medicines and vaccines to stop the spread of covid-19, there have been funding given from the World Health Organisation as well called “Solidarity” to help with the research and development process.

The biotechnologists and the IT sectors are working together to provide a plausible solution for the pandemic and develop testing kits, vaccines, all sorts of materials that are required for the pandemic to lower their rate of spreading. There has been a lot of support from the government as well to help the field of biotechnology.

India has initiated the “make in India” programme too, where they have taken the task upon themselves to produce the vaccines by themselves using local products and available technology.

Through this, there was the development of “Covexin”, which is manufactured by Bharat Biotech labs which are made with the partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and have been in the news recently as it has been cleared for phase three clinical trials.

Then another, the vaccine has been developed by the Serum Institute, located in Pune produced and manufactured their invention called “Covishield” which is the vaccine used for COVID-19 and it has recently been shipped all across various locations of India for use.

Conclusion

The biotechnology industry in India is all set to emerge all the more as the importance of this industry is being known and acknowledged not just in India, but the whole world. With the present situation of the pandemic, biotechnological developments have been going up the roof with the inventions of new vaccines, testing kits, etc.

The implementation of TRIPS was supposed to be a setback in the field of biotechnology, this was not the case and biotechnology parks will ensure that the field of biotechnology only keeps on improving over the years to come.

References

• https://www.slideshare.net/JayChoudhary6/bio-technology-parks
• https://www.omicsonline.org/2155-952X/2155-952X.C1.043_083.pdf
• https://www.biotecnika.org/2020/05/biotechnologists-covid19-pandemic-role-of-biotech-industry/
• http://dbtindia.gov.in/schemes-programmes/innovation-platform/biotech-parks-incubators
• http://www.ris.org.in/images/RIS_images/pdf/Swapan%20Kumar%20Patra.pdf
• https://www.biotechbug.in/2020/09/an-overview-of-biotechnology-parks-in.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+biotechbug/fVyW+(BiotechBug)&m=1
• https://www.biospectrumindia.com/features/75/7560/indias-iconic-biotech-parks-and-incubators.html
• https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/national-biotechnology-park-scheme/

• https://www.bio.org/policy/human-health/vaccines-biodefense/coronavirus

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