Sector is being fuelled by investments, government policies, and collaborations; bioindustry and biopharma are leading the way
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India’s bioeconomy sector has crossed the $150 billion milestone, to touch $150.97 billion, registering a 10 percent growth from $137 billion in 2022, says the India BioEconomy Report 2023 by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
The four key sectors of India’s bioeconomy—biopharma, bioindustrial, bioagri, and bioservices/IT—have shown promising growth. Bioservices/IT has registered a 30 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth, while bioindustrial, which includes alcoholic beverages and biofuels, is the biggest contributing sector, with a market value of $72 billion by the end of 2023. Biopharma, with a market value of $53 billion, is the second-highest contributor to the sector. The total value of bioagri and bioservices/IT reached $12.4 billion and $12.1 billion, respectively, by the end of 2023.
“The success of the biotech innovation ecosystem hinges on the active involvement of diverse stakeholders, including research institutes, universities, companies, investors, and government. These entities should and must collaborate to foster a sustainable environment through networks, regulatory and policy support, and promoting innovation with intellectual property rights protection,” said Ajay Kumar Sood, principal scientific advisor, Government of India, at the launch of the report in New Delhi on September 12.
In the past two decades, India’s bioeconomy sector has witnessed exponential growth. In 2003, its market value was modest at $2 billion. Initial growth in the first decade took its market value to $5 billion by 2008 and $11 billion by 2013.
From 2013 to 2018, the bioeconomy witnessed an exponential surge in market value and registered a growth of 400 percent, touching $55 billion by the end of 2018. The primary drivers of this growth are the investment in human capital and infrastructure, an innovative ecosystem built by collaborations between institutions and industry, government incentives and other policies, and better product commercialisation. This growth momentum continued in 2020, 2021 and 2022, with the market value touching $86 billion, $106 billion and $137 billion respectively.