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DPIIT considers earmarking funds for biotechnology ventures – ETtech.com


DPIIT considers earmarking funds for biotechnology ventures The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is considering earmarking funds from the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) for biotechnology ventures to promote indigenous technologies in healthcare, agriculture, food and nutrition.

“We are talking to the Department of Biotechnology. They want us to earmark some funds for biotech startups,” said an official.

Since the beginning of the Startup India programme, the government has disbursed around Rs 380 crore in the past three years to develop bio-clusters and bio-incubators. Of this, around Rs 196 crore has been spent on four bio-clusters and Rs 174 crore on 41 bio-incubators through the BioNEST scheme under the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a not-for profit public sector enterprise under the Department of Biotechnology. Under the BIRAC seed fund, Rs 8.5 crore was disbursed to 13 bio-incubators in the past three years.

Many funds in which the council has made commitment have also received commitment under the FFS, according to another official who said the issue came up at a recent meeting to discuss the operations of the FFS.

Unlike startups in the information technology sector, enterprising ideas in the biotech sector need incubation support and a landing space to test their ideas, run their operations, have access to high-end instrumentations and locate in a place where they connect with other startups and mentors.

Under the BIRAC seed fund, Rs 8.5 crore was disbursed to 13 bio-incubators.

In 2017-18, the DBT also setup a Biotechnology Innovation Fund-AcE Fund (Accelerating Entrepreneurs) with a total cost of Rs 150 crore for three years to attract investment in biotechnology sector.

“In biotechnology, basic and applied research are interlinked. A dedicated amount of funds for this sector is key to encourage the development of intellectual property (IP) in India,” said an expert on IP issues.

This is not the first time DPIIT will set aside funds to promote entrepreneurship. The department had earlier announced allocation of Rs 1,000 crore from the FFS for women-led or women-centric startups to support entrepreneurship among women.





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