The union government will soon set up a biotechnology regulatory authority involving the private sector and related bodies, according to union minister of state for science and technology Prithviraj Chavan. As part of its national 'BT' development strategy, the centre has already introduced a legislation to protect intellectual property rights for state-run research and development projects, he said.

At the same time, the central government is setting up three major biotech clusters at Mohali, Faridabad and Bangalore, Chavan told the Bio 2009 conference in Bangalore which kicked off on Thursday.

The flagship biotechnology event of Karnataka state is also probably Asia's largest meet on BT. As many as 400 companies from across the world are participating in the three-day event involving more than 700 delegates.

The union government is also setting up the country's first Bio-IT centre at the Institute of Bio-informatics and Applied Biotechnology in Bangalore, India's information technology capital. It involves participation by the government and industry with Rs35 crore earmarked for the project. The centre will contribute the majority of the funds, with the Software Technology Parks of India, the government of Karnataka and the private sector contributing the rest.

Speaking on the occasion, Kiran Majumdar, chairperson, Biocon, said that BT would play a major role in tackling global warming, diseases and other areas.

About the performance of the sector in India, she said that last year the revenues were Rs12,137 crore, a growth of 18 per cent over the previous year. While it was below the growth seen in the earlier years, it showed that almost 60 per cent was accounted for by exports.

In the bio-technology context, she said Bangalore remained on top, accounting for 25 per cent of the total revenues, while Maharashtra and Pune also showed impressive performances.

Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa said that the new biotech policy for the state would be released within 30 days, and promised to provide all possible support to the industry.

The state government is planning to release the revised 'millennium biotech policy' within a month. The first version of the policy was drafted in 2001. The revised policy aims ''to give a number of incentives to the biotechnology industry,'' said Katta Subramanya Naidu, the state's minister for IT and BT.

The policy under revision is guided by the Vision Group on Biotechnogy, chaired by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon India Ltd. It will focus on capacity building, deregulating certain provisions coming in the way of the growth of the sector, providing the much-needed fiscal incentives and concessions and building up the necessary infrastructure for the sector.

Bangalore boasts 187 core biotechnology companies, with a major thrust on R&D, clinical trials and contract manufacturing. Other biotech fields like bio-agriculture and bio-industrial applications also have tremendous growth opportunities.

(See also: Indian biotech industry growth dips 18 per cent amid recession)