After leading the IT band-wagon, India has shifted its focus to Biotechnology (BT). The current trends in the sector show tremendous growth opportunities and it is being considered as a sunrise industry and is ranked at par with IT by experts.

As rightly said by former prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee at the first International Exhibition and Conference on Biotechnology, “IT stands for India Tomorrow and BT stands for Bharat Tomorrow.” It is estimated that the sector is currently generating revenues of $5 bn, which is expected to grow further and generate $25 bn in revenue and one million skilled jobs over the next five years.

The Indian biotech industry, which comprised of only 30 companies, a few years ago, is now worth $150 mn comprising of 160 companies, building up links all across the world. The sector has noticed a tremendous growth in terms of new companies’ registration, increased patent filings, larger product pipelines and new product launches. In spite of all this, the sector in India is continually facing problems of inadequate venture funding and high cost infrastructure. To make things worse, various regulatory laws that govern the sector cause delay as approvals take time. This in turn affects the gains and losses being made by the companies. Though the recent success of companies such as Biocon indicates a bright future for the industry, the milliondollar question is, will this sector attain heights?

Today, India holds a small share of the global biotech market, but has all the capabilities to become a dominant player. According to experts, the consumption of biotech products in India is expected to quadruple in the next decade. India has a rich human capital, which is the strongest asset for this knowledge-based industry.

Bicocon’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) was the first in the biotech sector, which received an overwhelming response to its 100% book-built offering. “Biocon’s success in the biotech field would definitely encourage other biotech companies. It will encourage a lot of emerging biotech companies to go for IPOs. However, the success of the biotech companies will depend on their ability to come up with good business models as Biocon has apparently done.