The policy was approved by the Cabinet at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar. It would create a flourishing ecosystem for biotechnology industry

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena said the police aims at harnessing the potential of biotechnology towards the sustainable socio-economic development and giving boost to the Biotechnology ecosystem in the state.

The Odisha Biotechnology Policy 2024 has been conceptualised with a number of key incentives, he said.

Recognising Biotechnology as a sunrise sector for the state, this policy seeks to attract and bring investors and stakeholders together and empower them to create a flourishing biotechnology ecosystem in the state, he added.

The key objectives of the Odisha Biotechnology Policy 2024 are:

• To promote higher education, research and infrastructure development in the most promising areas of Biotechnology.
• To develop and strengthen supportive and vibrant ecosystem for Innovation, Incubation, Investment, Income, and Impact to build enterprises and industries.
• To realign academic excellence, skilling and capacity building to meet industry requirements.
• To promote product/ process development, commercialization and IP monetization.
• To leverage breakthrough biotechnology innovations/ knowledge for socio-economic development of the state.
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  Biotechnology is a thrust sector in IPR-2022. Aligning with IPR-2022, Odisha Biotechnology Policy 2024 provides incentives taking into account the long gestation period and technology intensive activities of the sector.
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  Incentives provided under Odisha Biotechnology Policy 2024 include:

1. The policy provides support for development of Biotech parks promoted by state agencies or private sectors.
3. Biotechnology units shall be provided capital investment subsidy on actual investment in plant and machinery.
5. Soft loan assistance will be provided to large & mega Biotechnology units operating in the state for setting up of production units in the key areas of Biotechnology using high end technologies.
7. As Biotechnology sector demands sophisticated technologies which may need to be acquired and upgraded from time to time,, technology acquisition and upgradation subsidy will be provided to eligible biotechnology units.
9. Eligible Biotechnology units will be given the benefit of employment generation Incentive which will be applicable only to employees engaged in biotechnology based technical work.
11. Reimbursement for registration of Patent, GI, Trademark and Design will be applicable to the Biotechnology units operating in the state.
13. Biotechnology units will be given financial assistance for obtaining quality certifications from recognised institutions during the policy period.
15. Eligible Biotechnology Units/ Biotechnology Start Ups will be provided with financial assistance for showcasing their products or technologies in national or international events.

A dedicated Directorate of Biotechnology shall be created for effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of various functions envisaged in the policy for the development of biotechnology in the state.

The government will constitute an Odisha Biotech Vision Group (OBVG) to act as a think tank and advisory body on diverse policy related issues. The OBVG will be comprised of professionals and experts from academia, research, industry, policy, administration, finance and marketing.

This policy will come into effect from the date as notified in the official Gazette of Government of Odisha. It will remain in force for a period of 5 years or until it is substituted by another policy, whichever is later.