New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Friday said that India’s bio-economy is projected to grow to $1 trillion by 2047, emerging as one of the top three global bio-economies.

The twenty-first century will be “India’s century” driven by a biology-led economy, the minister told an international conference at IIT Roorkee.

India is advancing towards full-spectrum technological capability “from gene to qubit, from ocean depths to outer space,” supported by policy reforms, strong institutional frameworks and a rapidly expanding innovation ecosystem, an official statement cited the minister as saying.

Referring to developments in emerging technologies, he said the National Quantum Mission has achieved key milestones ahead of schedule, while India has entered the top ranks globally in several critical technology domains. He noted that India’s Global Innovation Index ranking has improved from 81 to 39, and that research and development expenditure has more than doubled over the past decade, reflecting sustained national prioritisation of science and innovation.

India’s bio-economy has expanded from $10 billion in 2014 to over $165 billion today, growing at nearly 18 per cent annually, with a target of $300 billion by 2030, he said.

The number of biotech startups jumped from around 50 to more than 11,000, the statement from the Ministry of Science & Technology said.

He also referred to the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) with a Rs 50,000 crore corpus and the Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, designed to provide long-term, low-cost financing for deep-tech innovation.

Dr. Jitendra Singh presented a series of major scientific advances achieved in recent years, including progress under Genome India, indigenous CAR-T cell therapy, development of mRNA vaccine platforms, India’s first indigenously developed antibiotic, etc.

He also highlighted the expansion of nuclear medicine facilities to deliver affordable cancer care and progress in deep ocean exploration through missions such as Samudrayaan.

—IANS

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