NEW VISTAS: Students in a BT lab at Delhi's JNU

Industry expects investments of Rs 1,000 cr in India's biotech sector in the next two years.

Till now, the new revolution was all about communications and the handling of information-that's information technology, it, or India today. But the promise that biotechnology holds to revolutionise the future-in agriculture, medical sciences, pharmaceuticals, industry and other sectors-that's BT, or Bharat tomorrow. The Indian workforce-well educated, skilled and English speaking-was an important part of the it revolution. Is it ready to play a similar role in the promised BT boom?

"Biotechnology is India's future" is how Manju Sharma, secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), puts it. She is not talking in the air. With India's BT potential becoming evident, industry sources say that in the next two years investment of Rs 1,000 crore will come into this sector.

KIRAN M. SHAW Earnst & Young entrepreneur last year for her company Biocon Uses biotransformation to make cheap, eco-friendly molecules for pharma sector. Three Biocon group companies, Biocon, Syngene and Clinigene, have a combined turnover of $50 million.

As the promising new frontier just begins to open up, it is the ambition to be there that drives scientists at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in New Delhi. Hunched over their computers, pipetting vital fluids in precise proportions into test tubes and petridishes, or peering into their microscopes, they are all hard at work. The goal of their 10-year-long project-to develop a viable vaccine against malaria-may be elusive. But if they achieve that goal, it could potentially impact 500 million people across the globe, protecting them from a debilitating, life threatening, disease. And on the side, increase work days and economic output in tropical countries where malaria is a scrouge.

Recognising their pioneering work, the Bill Gates Foundation, USA in July 2001 granted financial support of over $1 million to ICGEB. There are other science laboratories across the country that are using the cutting-edge technology BT offers to develop drugs and vaccines that would improve the quality of life for millions across the globe. For example, at the Indian Immunological Centre in Hyderabad, work is underway to produce the world's first ever vaccine based on DNA-the basic chemical units of life. In partnership with the DBT, it has developed an animal anti-rabies vaccine. "If all goes well, the vaccine will be available in six months," says V.K. Vinayak, adviser, medical biotechnology, DBT.

RAJIV SAXENA Dean, Scool of Life Sciences, JNU, says most students end up abroad Working on a six-month project on lung immunity with an American body's grant of $25,000, Saxena realises that Indian talent is world class but is available at half the cost of talent in the West.

Companies abroad seeking to invest in India have serious reservations about the country's failure to update patent laws.

The promise of India's biotech sector has increased the West's interest in investing for research and production. As with the software industry, India's trump card remains manpower.

Rajiv Saxena, dean, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), points out that more than 90 per cent of their students end up abroad. "India is a huge, talented biotech pool," he says. And the West is fishing. And why not? "Our students are hard working, talented, and available at half the cost of their American counterpart," he adds.

The manhunt, however, begins even before the students have completed their fellowship, points out V.S. Chauhan from ICGEB. But as of now, the biotech sector in India is not big enough to absorb the students who are qualifying. And Indian companies are fighting shy of hiring scientists who do not have a fancy foreign tag to them. "Indian scientists are among the best. But if we are to source personnel for our company, we would look abroad," says Ashok Ratan, director, microbiology, new drug discovery research, Ranbaxy. The reason: Indian scientists lack credibility because "there is no accounting in the system".

A strong thrust has come from the DBT which began as a board in 1982, and earmarked human resource development as a priority sector. In the current financial year, DBT has an investment of Rs 200 crore, a major chunk of which will go into research and development and training. "Today we are supporting biotechnology in 64 institutes, 38 of which are postdoctorate courses," Sharma says. But the ultimate destination of most students remains overseas.

The push to the biotech sector was meant to create entrepreneurs who would usher in the biotech boom in India and venture capital (VC) funding. The Government too is offering to step in. The Tenth Plan will offer incentives to scientists-especially to those who shifted base abroad but now want to set up shop in India. "We will put in the seed money if the project has potential," promises a DBT official.

A student of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, Vinisha Khemani dreamt of venturing into business, but despaired of ever finding the capital to do so. While interviewing for an academic post at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore where she was science manager, she got her break. Not the job, but capital from US-based venture capitalists, e4e.

"It was sheer luck," says Khemani, founder of InSilico Sciences, Bangalore. For unlike in the it sector, the VCs are not pouring money into long-gestation BT projects. Even if the seed capital were coming, the market for biotech processes and products is yet untested.

But there are some who are sceptical. Says P. Babu, MD of Bangalore-based Genei, "Big international players relocating or setting up shop in India is a far-fetched dream. But I see India as a destination for them to set up captive research plants here, and also to set up small units with a single-focused production."

Again, money matters. "Pharma research is 30 per cent cheaper in India, and the same rule applies to biotech research," confirms Bimal Raizada, senior vice-president, Ranbaxy.

Typically, the Indian babu culture is the biggest hurdle. Regulations are governed by the DBT and the Ministry of Environment, and lack of coordination between them cause inordinate delays. "Drugs are still controlled by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, which is over 40 years old," says DBT's Vinayak. Infrastructure and equipment is another problem. "We depend on the West for 90 per cent of the equipment," says Chauhan of ICGEB. Bottlenecks at customs for biotech inputs can delay experiments and shoot up costs.

Outsourcing knowledge and research from India, however, holds great promise. Like JNU's Saxena, who is currently studying the impact of disease exhaust particulate on lung immunity and susceptibility to tuberculosis infection. The US Centre of Disease Control and Prevention will grant $25,000 for his six-month project.

"Remote servicing has already hit big time with knowledge service centres opening shop in India, offering their clients abroad good value for money," says Raman Roy, president and CEO, Spectramind.

The Delhi-based company's team of researchers-ranging from post-doctorates to technicians-analyse data for research. "We are in the business of resource servicing and most of our clients are based in the US and UK," says Roy, adding that a large chunk of his business is biotech. "It is not just the cost, but the good qualitative work that India can offer."

Quality and cost remain the key to India's BT future.