The Karnataka government will release a draft Biotech policy on November 28th at the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS). The 26th edition of the states’ flagship event will also feature over 40 product launches by start-ups, said Karnataka’s information technology and biotechnology minister, Priyank Kharge. 

With the new policy, the focus will be on skilling, leadership development, incubation and setting up Centers of Excellence(CoE) for research. “We recognise that the gestation period for companies in biotechnology is longer. While ideation to building Proof-of-Concept(POC) is fast in this sector, from POC to market is long. Hence, we are coming up with an incubator and foundry. The idea is to provide the most solid foundation for investments and job creation,” Kharge told businessline. 

Start-up Elevate program

The government is also curating a Venture Capital(VC) pool with the private sector. Additionally biotech start-ups can also access grants of up to ₹50 lakh under the governments’ Start-up Elevate program. 

In addition to the policy launch, BTS will also for the first time see over 40 product launches over the course of the three-day event. Kharge notes that the start-ups registered with the state will get a government platform to launch, and the administration will also evaluate the products and determine if they can be adopted within the government. 

The Summit is also seeing participation from over 30 countries, out of which 17 countries are conducting separate sessions. “The intention of the Tech Summit in Bengaluru is to showcase the region as the go-to destination for anything that has to do with technology. We have the skills, R&D, back office operations, GCCs, Innovations, Inventions, agile resources. With this we want to showcase that we are ready to innovate from India to impact the world,” Kharge said. 

Addressing criticisms

The state government recently had received criticism for losing investments to other states. Addressing the same, Kharge noted that no investments have been lost to other states. In the particular case of Kaynes Technologies, it was the company’s strategy to diversify investment in two regions. 

Further, addressing the infrastructure issues in the states’ capital Kharge said that every growing city encounters problems, be it Bengaluru, Barcelona or San Francisco, and the government is committed to improving infrastructure and is constantly making efforts towards the same. The government is also ensuring development and investment happens ‘beyond Bengaluru’ by incentivizing companies to set up in Tier 2-3 cities.