Bio-economy, space economy to spearhead growth story of India: Dr Jitendra Singh
Upstox
2 min read • Updated: February 28, 2024, 2:26 PM
Summary
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh described 10,000 genome sequencing as a watershed moment for India as it will lead to genetic based remedies.
On Tuesday, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said that bio-economy and space economy will spearhead the domestic growth story. He also noted that India's economic growth is the highest in the world at more than 6%.
Announcing the GenomeIndia Flagship programme of 10,000 genome sequencing, Singh said the country's bio-economy has grown 12-fold in the last 10 years from ₹10 billion in 2014 to over ₹130 billion in 2024. He said India is now being rated among the top 12 bio-manufacturers in the world.
"There are several success stories which have made tremendous contributions to India’s bio-economy like Mission COVID Suraksha, Indian Biological Data Centre, which is the first repository of life sciences data established in the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad and Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG)," the union minister added.
He described 10,000 genome sequencing as a watershed moment for India as it will lead to genetic based remedies and boost the country's public healthcare system.
‘Space economy is opening up new vistas’
On unveiling astronauts for the country's human space mission Gaganyaan, Singh said that the space economy is opening up new vistas.
"The current size of the Indian space economy is estimated at around $8.4 billion (around 2-3% of the global space economy), and it is expected that with the implementation of the Indian Space Policy 2023, $44 billion Indian space economy can be achieved by the year 2033," he added, as per press release on PIB.
Astronaut wings were bestowed to the four astronaut designates of the Gaganyaan mission slated to be launched in 2024-25. The astronaut-designates are Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. The mission aims to send a three-member crew into Earth’s lower orbit and bring them back after three days.