Dr Jitendra Singh Showcases India’s Transformative Decade in Biotechnology at BioSpectrum Excellence Awards 2025

India’s biotechnology and life sciences landscape has entered a new era of global recognition and scientific leadership, declared Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, while addressing the BioSpectrum Excellence Awards 2025 in New Delhi on December 5. The Minister delivered an expansive and forward-looking keynote, celebrating a decade of unprecedented advancement across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare innovation, and research infrastructure.

Dr Singh emphasised that the last 10 years have witnessed a decisive shift in India’s scientific trajectory, propelled by continuous government support and strategic investments under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He noted that policy reforms, mission-driven R&D programmes, and strong industry–academia collaborations have collectively “brought science from the labs into everyday governance,” ensuring that scientific progress directly benefits citizens.

Highlighting India’s expanding influence in global science and innovation, Dr Singh pointed to several sectors where the nation has moved from dependence to leadership. These include biotechnology, genomics, vaccine development, digital health, and even frontier areas such as space and AI-driven life sciences.

He credited the surge of biotechnology startups, world-class bio-clusters, and global research partnerships for shaping India’s growing bio-economy. With thousands of emerging deep-tech ventures supported by national incubators and grant programmes, Dr Singh said India is now on track to realize its vision of becoming a $300-billion bio-economy.

In applauding the 2025 awardees, Dr Singh praised entrepreneurs, researchers, and women scientists whose work is driving breakthroughs in: Personalized and precision medicine; AI-enabled diagnostics and healthcare solutions; Advanced vaccine research and biosafety platforms; Bioservices, biomanufacturing, and next-generation genomics and Synthetic biology, bioengineering, and predictive healthcare. He noted that the innovations emerging from India’s biotech sector are shaping new pathways in disease prevention, genomic intelligence, and high-value biomanufacturing—areas that are central to the nation’s scientific roadmap for the coming decade.

Dr Singh highlighted a number of national initiatives that continue to accelerate India’s scientific progress: Expansion of biotechnology research clusters across Bengaluru, Pune, Faridabad, and Hyderabad; BIRAC’s support for startups, including seed funds, innovation grants, and scale-up assistance; Policy frameworks enabling industry–academia partnerships, fostering translation of research into commercial applications; Special programmes for women scientists and young investigators to promote inclusive scientific leadership.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to building an innovation-driven economy where biotech enterprises can compete globally while addressing India’s healthcare and societal needs. The Minister also acknowledged the significant contributions of state governments—particularly Karnataka—for establishing robust biotech ecosystems. These states have built sophisticated research hubs, incubation centers, and industrial networks that support innovation from concept to commercialization.

Concluding his address, Dr Jitendra Singh emphasised that the BioSpectrum Excellence Awards play a vital role in recognizing and encouraging India’s scientific community. He congratulated the award winners, stating that their achievements embody the extraordinary potential of Indian science and strengthen India’s global standing as a hub for biotechnology and innovation.