Biotechnology in India

India's biotechnology story began with companies like the Serum Institute of India (late 1960s) and Biocon (1978). In 1982 the government set up the National Biotechnology Board, which became the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in 1986.

The DBT runs research institutes across the country, such as CDFD (Hyderabad), NBRC (Gurugram), NII and NIPGR (New Delhi), NCCS (Pune) and RCB (Faridabad). It also funds postgraduate courses and research fellowships (DBT-JRF, DBT-RA).

The Indian biotechnology industry has five segments: bio-pharma (medicines and vaccines), bio-services (research and testing for others), bio-agri (farming), bio-industrial (enzymes and industrial products) and bio-informatics. India is among the top 12 biotechnology nations in the world and third in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vaccines. India is the world's largest maker of recombinant Hepatitis B vaccine. One in every two children in the world receives a vaccine made by an Indian company, and Indian vaccines reach more than 140 countries. Covaxin, India's first home-grown Covid-19 vaccine, was developed by Bharat Biotech. ROTAVAC protects children against diarrhoea caused by rotavirus.

Medicines and farming. About 80% of the world's anti-HIV (antiretroviral) medicines come from Indian companies. Bt cotton leads India's hybrid seed market, and new varieties of rice, maize and wheat are being bred for higher yield, tolerance of stress such as drought, and better nutrition.