face to face
has now existed for more
than a decade. All that
the current government
can do is to uplift the
spirit and elevate the
mood in terms of Make in
India. However, the basic
investor sentiment and all
the stakeholders must be
taken onboard to work in
a sustainable way.
The $100 billion target is
not that even so big that
India cannot achieve. It
is just that the potential
we have in shape of our
young entrepreneurs,
startup ecosystem that
needs to be harnessed. But
again, that requires the
managing of regulatory
and investor sentiments
that makes that possible.
Also, we must not get
bogged down by criticism
from sidelines. Even
the critics too must
join mainstream and
wok towards achieving
the goal. 100 is just
the indicative number.
You may achieve 99 or
you may achieve 101.
But staying at 35-40 is
something where we will
have to blame ourselves.
Students are not lacking
dreams, startups are not
losing hope but we must
12
BioVoiceNews | April 2017
give them requisite canvas
to play. ABLE can give a
vision and government
agencies can support but
the implantation must
be done at the state level.
Each state government
must have their goals
for biotechnology. Be it
political bosses, industry,
regulators, academia
or others, all must play
their part and move
towards single direction.
Otherwise we will be again
discussing how to achieve
$100 billion industry by
2025.
How is the
global investor
sentiment towards
Indian biotech
market scenario?
How should we
communicate with
them?
I would say that they
are still not fully
educated about Indian
opportunities. They have
not seen the country
transform into an
economic powerhouse.
Perhaps they have been
the mushrooming of
various other sectors,
outsourcing, telecom etc
but they are still not aware
about our role currently
as the vaccine leaders.
Biosimilars are the other
area where we are at the
forefront. But we have not
succeeded in highlighting
our strengths properly.
Hence, I think our global
outwards communication
must change with more
focused approach.
Communication strategy
explaining the biotech
must come up. You can
give a generalized call
that India is growing
but outsiders don’t
know whether it is for
infrastructure, building
roads or the biotech. We
need to be specific in our
communication.
BRAI bill is still
pending in the
Parliament and
perhaps has elapsed
too. Has ABLE
raised the issue with
government?
We have pushed it as
much as we can. With
the change in political
scenario and a majority
government in the
Parliament, hopefully,
it will see the light of
the day. Political will
is important. While
government must