The new Policy is designed to facilitate new biotech companies to come to Tamil Nadu by creating an enabling environment. The broad objectives of the new Biotech policy are: to take up a detailed inventory of the bio-resources in the State; to attract R&D institutions and Manufacturing firms to Tamil Nadu by performing specific activities to improve the biotech industry and related sectors, as well as addressing issues such as Intellectual Property Rights, Bio-safety, Biosurveillance and Bio-ethics, etc. Biotechnology has applications in four major areas: (i) health care (medical), (ii) crop production and agriculture, (iii) non food (industrial) uses of crops and other products (e.g., bio-degradable plastics, vegetable oil, bio-fuels, textiles, paper) and (iv) environmental uses. Tamil Nadu has the potential to become a major State in adopting high technology plant breeding and seed production methodologies. There is an increasing use of molecular markers in crop breeding and a growing realization that some of these new technologies could lead to future growth in the productivity and quality of crops such as rice, wheat, eggplant (brinjal), tomato, etc. Therefore, hybrid seeds represent new business opportunities based on yield improvement. The development of a production base in bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers would facilitate the State's entry into the growing organic or natural food markets. The livestock and poultry wealth in the State is ever on the increase, as a large number of germplasms are being introduced in the State. The scope for developing diagnostics and vaccines and nutraceuticals exclusively for livestock and poultry applying biotechnological tools is immense. A State Biotechnology Board will be established to give proper orientation to the biotechnology sector in the State.
India · 2014-01-01