Gujarat announces a new biotech policy

New Delhi: Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has unveiled the new ‘Gujarat Biotechnology Policy 2022-27’ with a commitment to promote rapid and inclusive growth in the biotechnology industry in Gujarat.

Jitu Vaghani, State Minister of Education, Science & Technology, accompanied the Chief Minister during the launch of new policy at Science City, Ahmedabad.

Bhupendra Patel said that, “being a policy driven and business-friendly state, Gujarat has remained at the industry forefront in the country. New forms of entrepreneurship have emerged with the adoption of science and technology in the state.”

“Biotechnology has made significant contributions in solving new-age problems, especially in the field of health and agriculture. The science-driven industry has been instrumental in understanding and fighting the global COVID19 pandemic. It was due to biotechnology that we got effective rapid antigen tests, RT-PCR tests, vaccines, etc,” the CM added.

According to the new policy, MSMEs with a capital investment of less than Rs 200 crore will be given maximum assistance of Rs 40 crore and mega/large projects with a capital investment of more than Rs 200 crore as well as special projects like ecosystem empowerment, emerging technologies in challenging areas and of strategic importance will be given assistance of up to 25% of the total capital expenditure up to a maximum of Rs 200 crore. This assistance will be provided in the form of 20 quarterly instalments over a period of 5 years.

The new policy will further strengthen the ecosystem by providing support to the special projects such as pre-clinical testing, genome sequencing in private sector, plug and play facilities, private sector BSL-3 lab-vaccine development, and manufacturing, testing and certification laboratories.

Gujarat’s biotechnology sector has more than 200 biotechnology companies and a thriving startup ecosystem. In order to provide further support to the sector, Government of Gujarat has announced plans to establish a Bulk Drug Industrial Park in Jambusar Taluka of Bharuch District and a Medical Device Industrial Park at Viramgam/ Rajkot.Capital investment of over Rs 20,000 crore is expected in the industrial sector of the state.