BY VEENA RAO

In less than twenty years, China will be the leading nation in biotechnology; predicted Dr. Jagdish N. Sheth, noted economist and Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

As a result of this, he said, counter-balancing would take place in India, leading to the revolutionizing of its biotech sector.

Dr. Sheth was speaking at the cocktail and dinner reception hosted by the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (GIACC) recently at the Goizueta Business School in honor of the visiting bio delegation from India. Led by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Department of Biotechnology and Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), the delegation comprised of senior corporate executives, senior government ministers and officials, senior CII & ABLE officers, representing the pulse of the Indian biotechnology industry.

India’s biotech revolution will happen in different ways, said Dr. Sheth. Pharmaceutical companies will get into the business of generic medicine; and, propelled by economic reforms- will make massive acquisitions around the world. 

Secondly, as biotech shifts more and more towards the east, Japan and South Korea will make large direct investments in the Indian biotech industry. Thirdly, India will attract enormous talent in public sector enterprises, he said.

Dr. Sheth is the founder of the India China America (ICA) Institute, a non-profit research institute working to foster research and dissemination of knowledge on the rise of China and India and their impact on global markets, global resources and geopolitics of the world. 

“This could be the biotech century for India,” he said. “What happened in the IT sector 30 years ago, will happen in biotech. It is in the interest of India and China to co-operate economically.”

Bio India delegate Dr. Purnima Sharma, who is the Managing Director of Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) presented details about various investment and financial assistance schemes offered by the department of biotechnology. “We are already seeing a lot of NRIs set up industries in India,” she said.

Anjan Das, a senior director and head of Technology and IPR functions at CII said 36 exhibitors participated in the annual BIO international convention, making it the largest Indian delegation ever. “India is seeing this as a great opportunity,” he said.

Das spoke at length about India’s industrial R&D programs and intellectual property rights (IPR). There are 175 multinationals operating from India in R&D, he said. 

He said India respects IPR because of which there have been no patent infringement cases so far in the country.

Anupam Srivastava, University of Georgia (UGA) faculty member and Director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Trade and Security (CITS), added that India, China and S. Korea are the largest filers of patents.

Earlier, GIACC president Ritesh Desai, in his address said, “These are exciting times, especially for India. The Indian biotech industry has had an impressive 30% annual growth rate.”