INCENTIVES FOR INVESTMENTS IN INDIAN BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

 

A number of incentives have been extended by the Govt. of India to promote   Biotechnology Industry. Major incentives are listed below:-

•    100% foreign equity investment is permissible automatically in drugs and pharmaceuticals and over 74% in other sectors on case by case basis.
•    Fast track clearance for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
•    Depreciation allowance on Plant & Machinery set up based on indigenous technology.
•    Customs duty exemption on goods imported for use in Government funded R&D projects.
•    Customs and Excise duty exemption to recognised Scientific and Industrial Research Organizations (SIROs).
•    150% weighted tax deductions on R&D expenditure.
•    3 years excise duty waiver on patented products.
•    100% rebate on own R&D expenditure.

The Budget for 2003-2004 has extended Income Tax concessions to biotechnology units at par with pharmaceuticals and information technology units, reduction in peak customs duty, tax holiday to R&D companies to be established up to March 31, 2004, etc. to promote Healthcare Biotechnology sector.  Thus, the budget attempts to promote R&D and biotech initiatives, though it may not have any immediate impact on the earnings of the enterprises engaged in this sector.

Initiatives taken by various state govt. to promote  bio-tech industry

   A few states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka are taking special interest in promoting  enterprises engaged in biotechnology sector. State-wise initiative taken in this regard are furnished below :
    Andhra Pradesh      :  The government of Andhra Pradesh has set up a Knowledge Park near Hyderabad in collaboration with ICICI which is emerging as a leading bio-cluster. Recently, the government has also announced the establishment of a Genome Valley which will focus on Genomics based R&D.

   Tamil Nadu   :  The government of Tamil Nadu is facilitating the formation of biotechnology enterprise zones (Biovalley) on the lines of Silicon Valley to exploit the bio resources of the state. Four biotech parks and a bioinformatics and genome centre are proposed to be established for leveraging the bio resources of the agro-ecological zones of Tamil Nadu.

Maharashtra   :   The government of Maharashtra has announced the establishment of a Biotech Park in Pune to house a pilot plant facility for start-up companies. The State Government has also announced seed capital facility for biotech companies. The presence of a large pharmacy sector in the state is expected to generate interest in bio therapeutics, diagnostics and veterinary products.

   Karnataka  : The Karnataka Government has announced a biotech policy to promote this sector and proposes to set up an institute for bioinformatics in Bangalore. It is also creating a Biotechnology Fund which will have inflows from the biotech companies.  This fund may be used for incubation of new projects and promotion of the sector in the state. Karnataka has also planned to launch India’s first state sponsored biotechnology venture capital fund to promote the sector. Besides, three biotech parks are emerging in the state.

   Himachal Pradesh  :  H.P. Government has prepared a blue print for promotion of biotechnology industries in the state. This includes setting up of biotechnology parks, conservation and exploitation of bio resources, intensification of R&D and promoting biotechnology entrepreneurship through tax concessions and relaxed labour laws.

Various rules & regulations governing bio-tech industry

   The progress of this industry depends on various regulations like Patents Law including product patents, Plant Varieties Protection legislation, Biological Diversity Bill, 2000, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Environment Protection Act, Cell Rules, etc. The provisions of these regulations are discussed briefly hereunder :-

Patents Law

Intellectual Property (IP) is the most valuable asset of a biotechnology company. IP rights can protect the tremendous research efforts of innovators from having their innovations replicated by competitors. Some of the forms of IP with respect to biotechnology are patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, plant breeder’s rights and industrial designs. The most important IP rights for biotechnology companies tend to be patents. India had a product patent regime for all innovations as per the 1911 Act, up to 1970. The Patents Act, 1970 excluded pharmaceuticals and agro-chemical products from eligibility for product patents, in order to provide for development of local pharmaceutical industries. Under Section 5 of the Patents Act,  patents are presently restricted to the methods or process of manufacture and not extended to the substances/ products themselves. This resulted in development of considerable expertise in reverse engineering of drugs that are eligible for patent as products throughout the industrialized world but unprotectable  in India.

With  a view to comply with the WTO commitments on patenting of pharmaceuticals (and  agro-chemical) products, India has started on a process of amending the Patents Act by providing exclusive marketing rights (EMRs) and creating a mailbox system for patent applications for a period of five years or until the patent is granted or rejected, whichever is earlier. The provision relating to EMRs was introduced in the Patents (Amendment) Act, 1999. The amended Act grants the inventors what is known as ‘pipeline protection’.

The steps taken by the Government are within the broad framework of procedures and principles of the WTO. In terms of the TRIPS Agreement, India has time till January 1, 2005 to extend patent protection to this area. In order to bring about an effective growth in the biotechnology sector, the industry will have to change its orientation and focus on R&D. Product patent protection is expected to encourage research in developing inexpensive drugs that suit the Indian disease profile.

Plant Varieties Protection

Under the TRIPS agreement India is obligated to put in place a sui generis plant varieties protection (PVP) law. The Government of India has since introduced a bill, Protection of Plant and Varieties and Farmers Rights Bill, 2000 (PVP Bill) in this area. The PVP Bill is designed to recognise farmer’s rights over his seeds. It also has a provision for national gene fund for sharing the benefits with the traditional conservers of the variety. This bill will have implications for bio-agro sector. The concept of plant breeders’ rights arises from the need to provide incentives to plant breeders engaged in the creative work of research which sustains agricultural progress through returns on investments made in research and persuade the researcher to share the benefits of his creativity with the society.

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Staying online

 

Now, the new buzz in the town is staying online.

Now , not only staying online but also creating a superior web presence with wonderful connections and already buzz in the locality is the real charm which people want to perceive it and go with it. What is in reality the web presence, is it electronic mail or some sort of other references or is it the fundamental presence inside the web or is it the compound of other online activities you trounce upon through mail or is it just the web presence and about me . . Internet is also like that of the real world where it is presenting all sort of rich internet experiences through human like interventions though the communication medium is the virtual world.It is always a debatable idea whether man can live in the space or live in the Mars or anywhere in the world but it is true that man can always live inside the cyberspace that is the online world. It is always to create and attain your identity, track record and honesty inside the online world. You need to observe some of the precautions while at the online world. While writing email you should always observe and attain the simple words and never use the rusty words as in the real world also the use of bad mouthed words is not good just like the cyber world. Take time to know the likes and dislikes of the online communities and also try to reflect upon the honesty and other related institutions associated with it and only then you can find the richer benefits of using the cyber world. Over the years the spam users have developed many spam techniques and out of it some are most notorious that that of making the missed calls, email spam, instant messaging spam, forum spam, mobile message spam and through many forms of spam which are not only notorious but also bad.

 

Somewhere in the eighties

we hear the sound of staying alive as it is the most known and most respected word. There are many devastating situations where the people want to live and let live. Now, the new buzz in the town is staying online. Now , not only staying online but also creating a superior web presence with wonderful connections and already buzz in the locality is the real charm which people want to perceive it and go with it. What is in reality the web presence, is it electronic mail or some sort of other references or is it the fundamental presence inside the web or is it the compound of other online activities you trounce upon through mail or is it just the web presence and about me . There are many connotations and references to it and this can be according to situations and understandings. Internet is also like that of the real world where it is presenting all sort of rich internet experiences through human like interventions though the communication medium is the virtual world. The advantages with the internet are enormous and it cannot be imagined as with it you can connect all over the world with much ease. Like your personal life your professional life can get much better boost with good amount of internet experiences and also web presence as this can show up your presence inside the connection and also your reach and your popularity as all these can sum it up to become one of the better understanding and good factors in defining your career at some point of time or the other.

How to do this?

Should I put up my own hosted website solutions? These can be very costly and difficult to attain this. How to start and where to conduct and how to limit yourself through online world and how these can be done and so on? In this segment the most talked about is how to behave online and how to communicate on line with others so that it can be always with good humour and also always remember to behave appropriately as while at online you should always vouch for some sort of cultural differences and these cannot be anyway good one for you. Like the real world you should always be critical of your web presence and also there do many connotations to it and also many understand and the reputations attendance goes with it and it is you to sustain all these and attain the success with it. Like the real world you are as good as you and it is entirely unto you to manage and attain the reputation and how can you do it and how to attain this it is entirely unto you.

It is always a debatable idea

whether man can live in the space or live in the Mars or anywhere in the world but it is true that man can always live inside the cyberspace that is the online world. It is always to create and attain your identity, track record and honesty inside the online world. Cyberspace is a vast space where a sea of people float with it and you should not be sheep with them, you should clearly be the more organized and more concise and more conscious among them so that you can really stay afloat with these. There are many ways you can arrive at the cyberspace just like say that of email, instant messenger, website and blog and other services, running some sort of community and forums and other instant and other online partner sites.  Join the communities or any other above mentioned and try to be consistent and remain calm and wait for the opportunities and slowly and steadily you will be getting the recognition what you would be deserving and this may take time but after that all will be well and you will be getting the real recognition what you will be deserved and wanting to achieve. This can be time consuming but the real fruits coming out of it are always fascinating and wonderful to attain and achieve. It is like going to a newer places where you will not be knowing any body but with due course of time you will sooner or the later will be recognizing many persons and then your recognition will be soon reflect upon all these.

You need to observe some of the precautions

while at the online world. While writing email you should always observe and attain the simple words and never use the rusty words as in the real world also the use of bad mouthed words is not good just like the cyber world. Do not lower prestige on the net, try to always attain the simplicity and other behavioural attitudes while at the internet, feel it like that of the real world. Get POP3 email account and then write your mail offline so that you will not be hurrying up while using your mail as no internet cost or data usages will be on your mind and with it you can also manage attain other attainable ingredients with it.  Take time to know the likes and dislikes of the online communities and also try to reflect upon the honesty and other related institutions associated with it and only then you can find the richer benefits of using the cyber world. If you stay online for more and more time then the more person will observe you and if you share some sort of good articles and information then you can manage it at your own will and also with it you can draw the attentions of other through many different connotations. Emailing is the best tool to keep you always online and also reach to various search and its connotations and with it yours constant list will grow on increasingly and that can give you the richer and smarter benefits in future.

Spamming is illegal in many countries

so try to not to spam , create the contact list and then build the relationship with the user and then try to give the information to them with due course of time with it you will develop the long term relationships and also other online communication medium . Do not lower yourself to the level of below or obscenity or other any sort of misconduct or any bad activities and try always to be honest and true to your potential to get most out of your online presence. You should not send any sort of unsolicited messages as the spam to any one as this can have the real bad presence for you and in cyber world it is consider as the spam and you should beware of this and should not continue with it. Do not send any sort of commercial advertising and also do not ever try to scratch upon any sort of misbehaviour patterns so much so that it can give bad name to you. Over the years the spam users have developed many spam techniques and out of it some are most notorious that that of making the missed calls, email spam, instant messaging spam, forum spam, mobile message spam and through many forms of spam which are not only notorious but also bad. It is always important to know what is bad and so that you will not be going that way in order to avoid it.

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