Bangalore: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson of Vision Group of Biotechnology in Karnataka, on April 15 said venture capital (VC) funding was not adequate to give the required boost to the biotechnology industry in the state.

In the inaugural address at the second edition of BioVision, Bio 2002, the three-day conference which opened in Bangalore, she said though Karnataka was the largest recipient of VC funding amounting to Rs 70 crore, the amount should actually have been "in hundreds of crores".

"Seed capital is extremely important for start-up biotech companies, but venture capitalists are not coming forward in a pragmatic way as they consider biotechnology as a high risk business," she told reporters.

The view of the venture capitalists is partly affected by the myths about the role of biotechnology in the future of mankind, and progressive scientists in the past few months have been working hard at bursting these myths with a more rational approach.

She pointed out that despite inadequate venture capital funding, Karnataka was showing bright prospects of leading the country's revolution in biotechnology.

A bio survey conducted over the last three months in Karnataka has shown that there are 72 companies dealing in core biotech areas employing 5,000 people, of which 3,500 are scientists.

Of these companies, at least 10 new start-ups have been reported in the last one year alone, which are Aurigene, Biocon Shantha Biotech, CDC Linux, Klinigene, Klintek, Metahelix, Molecular Connections, Lotus Labs, Gangagen Technologies and Photonix and Biomolecules.

These ten companies are investing an average of Rs 100 crore and this year an additional Rs 300 crore would be invested, Muzumdar Shaw said.

She said Karnataka was the first state in the country to have undertaken such a survey to establish precisely the size of the Biotech industry in the state. "The survey has provided us with the precise estimate of the size of the industry in the state, which otherwise was left only to speculation," she said. The companies recorded a revenue of Rs 700 crore notching up Rs 250 crore in exports.

Chief Minister, S M Krishna, in his inaugural address said the use of Bt cotton would ultimately serve the aspirations of Indian farmers and provide them the boost to compete on an international level.

Citing the example of China, he said the use of Bt cotton in that country had actually benefitted Chinese farmers. "While China has shown its benefits to its farmers, why can't India do the same?" he asked.

Manju Sharma, Union Secretary for biotechnology, said Karnataka has bright prospects to lead the biotechnology revolution in the country.

She said new initiatives were being discussed with the state officials in this regard. The Centre has supported Karnataka in setting up the industry through Rs 20 crore finding for several biotech projects and Rs 10 crore for Biotech Park located in Bangalore, she added.

PTI