Advantage Bengal
The setting up of a separate Department of Biotechnology in 2006 gave a new impetus to the development of the field of traditional as well as modern biotechnology in West Bengal. In just a couple of years of its existence, the Department has promoted and accelerated the pace of development of biotechnology in the State. Through several R&D projects, demonstrations and creation of infrastructural facilities a palpable impact on the awareness about this field has been seen. The Department has made significant achievements in the growth and application of biotechnology in the broad areas of agriculture, health care, animal sciences, environment, and industry.
The ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) has already identified West Bengal as the main business growth centre with biotechnology as one of the potential area of investment. Considering the lucrative return on the investment as well as the high potential for societal development, Government of West Bengal aims at furthering biotech activities in the fields of healthcare, agriculture, medicine and genomics, diagnostics and environmental protection.
The Department has been interacting with several leading research institutes of repute. The proven technologies at the laboratory level are being scaled up and demonstrated in field. It has been trying to involve general Administration, NGOs and Panchayat agencies, especially in the districts to create awareness about the benefits of the use of biotechnology in various fields so as to achieve the overall societal development and enhance the quality of life. It has also been awarding grants to various researchers and to propagate small as well as large-scale researches, to various institutions of repute.
In order to promote biotechnology in West Bengal covering all aspects of research, general awareness among the populace, to generate employment, to keep ecological balance and to foster other allied activities, to handle commercial aspect of this sector, and to co-ordinate activities among various agencies working in the sphere of biotechnology, the West Bengal Biotech Development Corporation Ltd has been created and registered under the Companies Act, 1956. This Corporation will now look after the common “seed activity facility” of biotechnology to be extended to the prospective biotech companies looking forward to invest in biotech-based industry in West Bengal.
