Wednesday, April 21, 2010

“Bio Pharma Hub : Advantage West Bengal”

Speaking at a Seminar on “Bio Pharma Hub : Advantage West Bengal”, held by ASSOCHAM in association with Merchants' Chamber of Commerce (MCC) and State Government on Tuesday, at Kolkata, Dr. Debesh Das, Minister of IT and Bio-technology, Govt. of West Bengal, said that 100 acres of land had been acquired in Kharagpur to set up a Bio-technology Park in association with IIT, Kharagpur. Further, another Bio-technology Park was being developed on 1.5 lakh Sq.ft. of space at Salt Lake at a cost of Rs.100 crore where Bio-Incubator facilities would be provided. The State Government was in the process of procuring necessary machinery, which are expected to arrive within a month. Already some Bio-technology industries have shown interest in the Salt Lake facilities.

 

Dr. Das said further that Government of India had provided Rs.200 crore for setting up a National Institute of Bio Genomics at Kalyani at which research in Throat Cancer, would be carried out.

 

Shri S.N. Nundy, Co-Chairman, National Committee on Eastern Region Dev. Council, ASSOCHAM observed that skilled labour was indispensable for rapid development of bio pharma industry where West Bengal had an advantage over other States. He also pointed out that 60% of the medicines in the State was consumed by the urban people and the rural sector’s share needed to be increased.

 

Shri S.S. Beriwala, President, MCC said that the factors such as quality manpower, easy finance, R&D facilities, large scope for clinical research & development, and all-out government support provided a sound background for rapid development of West Bengal as a Bio-pharma hub in the country.

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