AP Biotech sector needs supporting infrastructure

Industry expects facilitation of businesses by the new government. SBPL and Sneha Bio Research and Development Services are major players in agricultural biotechnology in the city and there are some smaller players in the sector.

The Biotechnology sector has tremendous potential for development around Vijayawada mainly due to the availability of skilled manpower and enterprising scientists but the city has very few biotech companies all of which are into manufacturing of bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides and municipal waste treatment products.

The issues that bother prospective entrepreneurs are power crunch, infrastructure constraints and the sluggish pace at which the government departments concerned give their clearances. This is such a problematic thing that some departments still communicate among them through the Department of Posts when e-governance is the order of the day.

Coming to the ‘ease of doing business’, there was a time when Sujay Biotech Private Limited (SBPL), which has its manufacturing facility at Auto Nagar, had supplied bacteria for odour control at sewage disposal and treatment sites of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) but it stopped doing that due to payment issues with the civic body. Such are the conditions in which many Small and Medium Enterprises in Vijayawada are operating.

SBPL and Sneha Bio Research and Development Services are major players in agricultural biotechnology in the city and there are some smaller players in the sector.

Speaking to The Hindu, SBPL Principal Scientist and Managing Director M. Lakshmi Prasad said that many of his entrepreneur-friends evinced interest in setting up their units around Vijayawada but he asked them to wait till the Government makes necessary changes in the Single Window system and removes other policy irritants.

He pointed out that the city has many qualified biotechnologists and they also have the capital, what they need were a clear policy direction and business facilitation.

SBPL is exporting its products to Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka where the government departments are proactive to the industries needs.

The new State, Mr. Prasad asserted, has bright future due to its natural and human resources. What the government should do is ensure 24/7 power supply and provide the civic infrastructure, the entrepreneurs have the money and brains which can do wonders in the sector. The government should prop up R&D in biotechnology which remains at a nascent stage in spite of having the knowledge, he added.