India as a country ranks as the second most favored biotech destination next to China in the Asian continent.

The Southern State of Karnataka in India has always been in the forefront of technological advancements in the global scientific arena.

Notably the city of Bangalore, usually dubbed as India's Silicon Valley, has been crowned as the thriving hot bed for Information Technology and Biotechnology sector.

Karnataka is a host to almost 60 percent of all biotechnology companies in India, followed by other States including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Most of these companies have set up their R&D base in Karnataka, thereby attracting billions of dollars' worth investments every year.

Bangalore is also a teeming place for India's best innovative biotech startups. In fact, Karnataka recorded the highest R&D spend in Southern India than any other State.

The State also boasts of having strong research base, industry-academia nexus, top universities and institutes tie-ups, highly skilled workforce, robust infrastructure, raining FDIs, industry associations, and the government's supportive policy framework for prominently establishing Biotechnology in the State.

Here is an exclusive peek into the State's world-class, state-of-the-art Biotech Parks.

Helix Biotech Park in Bangalore

With a whopping investment of INR 350 crore, Helix Biotech Park in Bangalore is a joint initiative between the department of IT, BT, S&T and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, USA. The park will be known as Alexandria Knowledge Park.

Spread over 52 acres, the park aims to support biotech units with common infrastructure. The biotech incubator is spread over 10-15 acres in the park.

The park will offer incubation facility, lab and commercial space, common instrumentation facility, a business center, commercial and recreational areas, high-end computing facility, pilot plant, medical sample repository, and a gene bank.

Agri-Biotech Park in Dharwad

In 2010, erecting an agri-biotech park in the District of Dharwad was proposed by Karnataka State with an investment of INR 80 crore, employing about 5000 workforce.

Spain's Savaia Biotech and University of Massachusetts, USA, together are involved in the development of the park.

The park will be built in 30 acres of land at the University of Agricultural Sciences-Dharwad (UAS), Karnataka.

The park would be a centre for agriculture R&D, gene construction and pest management. Also transgenic plants of various crops is planned to be cultivated at the park.

Neutraceutical and Phytopharmaceutical Park (N2P2) in Mysuru

The park is planned with an investment of INR 103 crore, employing 5000 people.

The park will pioneer in various R&D in the areas of nutrition and phytopharmaceuticals or medicinal plants.

Animal House (Vivarium) in Bidar

The Animal House (Vivarium) is upcoming in the District of Bidar in Karnataka, with an investment of INR 40 crore. It is expected to provide employment to over 3000 professionals.

Standing on 20 acres of land, the centre will be a hub for conducting R&D in disease diagnosis, vaccine production, bioinformatics, embryo transfer, and stem cell techniques.

Marine Biotech Park in Mangalore

In 2010, the proposal to set up Marine Biotech Park in the District of Mangalore, Karnataka, was put forth, with an initial investment of INR 60 crore, offering employment to more than 3000 workers and professionals.