Biotechnology is projected to be India’s next growth engine, with sector expansion, policy support and innovation driving healthcare and economic transformation

Union Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said biotechnology is poised to become the key driver of India’s future economy, positioning the sector as the country’s “next industrial revolution.”

Speaking at SYMRESEARCH 2.0: International Conference on Bioengineering for Global Health at Symbiosis International University, Pune, Singh underlined that biotechnology would shape healthcare and economic growth in the coming decades, much as information technology transformed India in the 1990s.

According to government data, India’s biotechnology sector has expanded from USD 10 billion in 2014 to USD 130 billion today, with targets to reach USD 300 billion within the next five to seven years. Singh highlighted policy initiatives such as the Bio-E3 framework, which focuses on biotechnology for environment, economy and employment, to generate sustainable solutions and jobs for India’s youth.

The Minister pointed to milestones including the development of indigenous vaccines such as the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer and the Covid-19 vaccine, as well as gene sequencing trials for tuberculosis and antibiotic discovery programmes. These, he said, illustrate India’s growing contribution to global medical progress.

Singh also noted the emergence of space-linked biotechnology research, citing collaborations between the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Space. This, he said, could open new frontiers in areas such as space medicine and microgravity studies.

With India facing a dual challenge of communicable diseases like tuberculosis and rising lifestyle disorders such as diabetes, Singh stressed that prevention and affordable access to healthcare would remain central to policy. He added that biotechnology-driven startups and entrepreneurship would be critical in building a skilled workforce and fostering innovation in life sciences.