With a 3% global market share (in 2017), the Indian biotechnology industry ranks among the top 12 destinations in the world. Valued at USD 70.2 billion in 2020 the sector is estimated to register a CAGR of 16.4% to reach USD 150 billion by 2025-fuelled to a certain extent by the Covid-19 pandemic. Concurrently, its contribution to the global market is projected to rise to 19%.

Furthermore, the bioeconomy has observed almost a 95% increase in valuation over five years till 2020, and its share of the national GDP has also grown steadily to 2.7% in the same period.

The Indian biotechnology sector is divided into five segments, which include biopharmaceuticals, bio-agriculture, bio-services, bio-industrial and bio-IT. Out of these, biopharmaceuticals contribute the lion’s share to the bioeconomy at 62%.

Being one of the first countries to have a department dedicated to the biotechnology industry, the sector thrives on a supportive and flourishing ecosystem:

• Support to 9 Biotech Parks and 4 Biotech Science Clusters by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and 60+ Bio-Incubators backed by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
• ‘National Biotechnology Parks Scheme’ was initiated by DBT to create an ecosystem to absorb start-ups and give them a platform to scale their R&D activities in collaboration with the state government and industry.
• Hosts ~5,000 companies-4,240 biotechnology start-ups and 760 core companies.
• Home to the highest number of FDA-approved plants outside of the US-665 in total, 44% global abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) and ~1,400 WHO-compliant manufacturing plants.
• Offers a strong capability in contract manufacturing, research and clinical trials.
• The country covers 40-70% of WHO’s demand for DPY and BCG vaccines and 90% of measles vaccines.