When Industries and IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao recently said Genome Valley is running out of space, it was less of a problem statement and more about the success story of India’s first organised cluster for Life Sciences research and development and clean manufacturing.
Located not far from Hyderabad’s famous Outer Ring Road and well connected to the arterial road, Genome Valley has come a long way from the time it took shape at the turn of the millennium to emerge as a preferred hub for research focussed firms, both Indian and multinational of varying sizes.
Indeed, it is the nature of work that differentiates the cluster from the rest, which now is home to over 200 companies, including the facilities of globally leading vaccine makers Bharat Biotech and Biological E.
Powerhouse of Life Sciences
It has grown into a powerhouse of Life Sciences sector not only in India but also globally with a host of marquee companies establishing their research facilities is how Mr. Rao, who never misses an opportunity to showcase Telangana to investors, described Genome Valley.
Not without reason either if the transformation of the sleepy hamlets and the rocky terrain of Shamirpet mandal – which is about 70 kms from the Rajiv Gandhi International airport and 23 kms from Secunderabad Railway Station – is an indication.
When it was envisaged by the then Andhra Pradesh government, Biotechnology was in a nascent stage. Bharat Biotech was the anchor client and the government identified parcels of land and sanctioned two parks, including the ICICI Knowledge Park that subsequently became IKP Park.
The idea was to create the physical infrastructure to foster research as well as seed lot of companies, says Shakthi Nagappan, Director (Life Sciences and Pharma), Telangana government, who in various capacities, for about 13 years now, has seen the Life Sciences sector grow in the region.
In doing so, the government also decided against permitting manufacturing activity that falls in the Red category of pollution norms.
The road to growth was not easy, recalls Chairman and CEO of IKP Park Deepanwita Chattopadhyay. The road and telecom facilities were rudimentary and one of her first tasks was to impress upon the State-owned BSNL to establish an exchange in the area, she says.
But all that now is a thing of the past as IKP Park is left with just 20 of the 200 acres alienated to it by the government then. It was a matter of time before the demand for space in Genome Valley, which besides hosting standalone facilities of firms also offers multi tenant spaces.
Overtime, the government and the State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation expanded the cluster. Genome Valley is now into its Phase III, which is about 11 kms from the Phase I and II and even that is almost full, says Mr. Nagappan, adding the total area now is approximately 2,000 acres.
Talent pool — the driving force
It is the talent pool availability and the global scenario that has been driving the demand and growth. When Genome Valley was envisaged, Biotechology was a sunrise sector and then Andhra Pradesh was one of the frontrunners to capitalise on the opportunity and build on the State’s strengths and capabilities in pharmaceuticals. It was also the first to launch a Biotech Policy in the country.
In last 4-5 years, the demand for space in Genome Valley has accelerated aided by Telangana government’s thrust on making available more talent, which is a crucial factor that companies consider before locating their facilities.
“There are more skilling programmes now, ready to occupy infrastructure, which becomes easy [for the firms],” he says, pointing to how firms, both domestic and global, do not want to develop basic infrastructure and instead prefer plug and play infrastructure.
Little wonder that Genome Valley is also seeing more multi-tenanted lab infrastructure being added, including a clutch of projects, involving almost 1 million sq ft of built up space, for which the Minister laid the ground recently.
Successful startups
One of the major attractions for the firms are the success stories of startups that took wings from Genome Valley, a list that includes drugmaker Laurus Labs, as well as the presence of a plethora of firms. Broadly, the research and development work undertaken is across the value chain.
“We have a sizeable chunk of biological manufacturing, predominantly vaccine as also injectables and monoclonal antibodies. Pharmaceutical formulations work also happens here. In terms of R&D, it cuts across every sphere of Life Sciences, agriculture,” Mr Nagappan said, pointing to the large presence of DuPont and nutraceutical firms.
According to him, there is about 3 milion sq ft of built up area now in Genome Valley and an additional 2 million sq ft is in various stages of development. In terms of number of people employed in Genome Valley, he said it could be around 25,000, with around 15,000-16,000 in the scientific jobs alone.
Some of the recent investment announcements in Genome Valley include those of Sai Life Sciences, United States Pharmacopeia, Swiss major Ferring Laboratories, Bharat Serums, Laurus Labs and DFE Pharma of Germany.
Vaccine-maker Indian Immunologicals recently announced ₹700 crore fresh investment to set up a new animal vaccine manufacturing facility in Genome Valley, where it already has a state-of-the-art fully integrated and automation-enabled human vaccines and animal health formulations plant operational since 2013.
The proposed facility will produce vaccines for the Foot and Mouth disease and other emerging diseases and create employment for around 750 people.
Deputy Managing Director Priyabrata Pattnaik says, “Genome Valley offers an ecosystem for Life Sciences companies to sustain, thrive and grow. The cluster is slowly becoming a hub for biopharma, therapeutics and formulations entities. Access to the local workforce, environmental clearance and ease of doing business are the attractive features of Genome Valley. The Industrial Area Local Authority (IALA) status of the cluster enables single-point administration that allow the companies a single-point contact for all Government related approvals.”
$100 billion industry by 2030
The ecosystem is a major driver for the companies. Towards spurring growth, Telangana government has initiated various projects such as the Flow Chemistry Technology Hub and Biopharma Hub. Through the Life Sciences Advisory Board, it is in constant touch with the industry and academia.
Genome Valley is a crucial component for Telangana as the State government has set for itself an ambitious target of increasing the valuation of Life Sciences work from $50 billion in 2020 to $100 billion.
Describing Genome Valley as a very unique collaborative effort, Industries and IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said making the value to grow to $100 billion by 2030 is the vision and the cluster will play a very important role.
“Of course, (the proposed) Pharma City will be the biggest contributor. Genome Valley will also have a very significant contribution,” he said.
It is a multi-prong strategy that Telangana government is pursuing, one that will consolidate on the gains of Genome Valley, make most of the growing demand for medical devices with the setting up of a Medical Devices Park in Sultanpur and the ambitious integrated Hyderabad Pharma City project spread on thousands of acres.
Supporting social infrastructure
With social infrastructure having a key part in the growth of any industrial clusters, the government is also encouraging residential real estate development around Genome Valley. “People also want social infrastructure...(hence) encouraging housing to come up in the nearby areas,” Mr. Ranjan said, pointing to how lot of lands were in conservation zone earlier.
The change is evident with the number of people commuting from the city coming down. Aiding the process is also the good connectivity created from Kompally Medchal side, the senior official says. Ms. Chattopadhyay says a Metro rail line to Genome Valley could make the difference in terms of commute for the employees, most of whom now are ferried by company buses. IKP alone sees almost 90 buses come and leave every day, she adds.
The State government is constantly working to address some of the issues in a strategic and proactive way. These include promoting plug and play work space for not all mid sized companies can afford to buy land and build large campuses. With biotechnology, like other technology, also seeing lots of disruption, the need of the hour is to have startups and their innovation scale up faster. Towards this it has initiated facilities such as B-Hub with common facilities and laboratory space that the startups can use on a pay per use basis.
Wider appeal
At another level, the State government has also been successful in creating awareness of Genome Valley to firms in many other countries, particularly in Europe.
“Today you have Swiss, French and Spanish companies in addition to the American companies there,” Mr. Ranjan says, exuding confidence of Hyderabad remaining a preferred destination for investors. It is neither easy to replicate the success of Genome Valley nor possible to develop a facility like that in one or two years, he adds.
On future of the cluster, particularly expansion, he says “we have identified land that can be acquired. At the time of demand, we will do that.”
