Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, Chief Executive Officer of C-CAMP, Bengaluru, spoke about India's positioning as emerging leader in the biotech start-up world and increasing valuation of the country’s biotech industry.
He underlined the necessity for mid-stage funding for start-ups and collaborations with Venture Capitals (VC) and industry. “Models, where VCs & industry can partner with government including state governments to take early fruition to scale, should be incentivised,” he added.
“With health becoming more and more important globally along with agriculture and climate, the importance of biotech sector is rising, and an early stage funding for deep science and deep tech could help use this opportunity,” he pointed out.
“Experimentation is needed with STI governance policies inspired by successful grassroot implementation models,” Smt. Mugdha Sinha, Principal Secretary (S&T), Government of Rajasthan, advocated.
“Science should be posited as a service provider to all departments – an interphase connecting the dots, and policymakers need to be exposed to what science entails. Tier 2 industries that require government hand holding need to be identified,” she added.
Prof Amit Prashant, Director, IIT Gandhinagar, emphasised on strengthening the bridge between research organisations and the industry through collaborations with for translational research.
The panel of the conclave organised by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, jointly with the Government of Gujarat at Science City, Ahmedabad, served as a platform for exchanging ideas on funding mechanisms to strengthen investment in R&D.
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