Why in News?

• Rajasthan government will be signing a memorandum of understanding with the Centre’s Department of Biotechnology to set up its first biotechnology park and incubation centre in the state.
• The biotechnology park and incubation centre would be set up in the State with the support of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).

About Biotechnology Parks and Incubators:

• The Department of Biotechnology has established Biotechnology Parks/Incubators across the country to translate research into products and services by providing the necessary infrastructure support.
• These Biotechnology Parks offer facilities to Scientists, and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for technology incubation, technology demonstration and pilot plant studies for accelerated commercial development of Biotechnology.
• The Department so far has supported 9 Biotechnology Parks in various States.
• The Department has also come up with ‘National Biotechnology Parks Scheme’.
• The scheme aims to create an ecosystem to absorb the start-ups which have graduated from incubators and give them a platform for further scaling up their R&D activities in collaboration with the state Government and Industry.

Merits of the Project:

• This will enable the State government to take up research in the field of biotechnology and provide employment to the youths.
• It would also help to promote interdisciplinary field research such as bioinformatics, biomedical engineering and nano-medicine.
• Further, it will also help to promote biotechnology on the lines of health, agriculture, industry and food which will intensify the science-based manufacturing in Industrialisation.

 

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council:

• Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• BIRAC is a industry-academia interface and implements its mandate through a wide range of impact initiatives.
• It aims to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs.