Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada (JNTUK), in association with Godavari Knowledge Park (GKP), is organising BioAndhra-2014 an international conference on marine and agricultural biotechnology on the university’s Kakinada campus from October 16 to 18.
The new State has plenty of natural resources that help in taking up different biotechnology projects. There is lot of potential in this sector, besides providing an opportunity for entrepreneurs to set up new industries and this would in turn generate employment.
The objective behind organising the conference was to provide a platform for new initiatives and partnerships with clear measures common to researchers, technologists, venture capitalists and policy makers to set sensible and practical road maps to make Andhra Pradesh a new biotech destination, said JNTUK Vice-chancellor G. Tulasi Ram Das.
The State government is extending all support for the conference, and there is a possibility of unveiling a life sciences and biotech policy for the new State. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Nirmala Seetharaman and other State Ministers are likely to participate in the conference, he said at a press conference here on Tuesday.
The conference is aimed at inspiring individuals with deep research interests and promoting disciplined applied research in academic institutions with an objective to share socio-technically relevant ideas that would facilitate new initiatives in the State.
Eminent scientists, dignitaries, industrialists and a special delegation from the United Nations would also be participating in the conference. GKP is a technology business incubator formed in the university campus as a public private partnership with JNTUK. In the last four months, GKP has attracted a few start-up companies and will be shortly filing around five patents based on the ideas generated by students, claimed M.S.Shankara Prasad, secretary of GKP.