India's 'Bio Economy' Has Grown Eight Times In Last Eight Years To $80 Billion: PM Modi

India's 'bio economy' has grown eight times in the last eight years and has reached $80 billion from $10 billion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday (9 June), asserting that the country is not too far from reaching the league of top 10 countries in the global ecosystem of biotech.

Addressing the Biotech Startup Expo after inaugurating the two-day event in New Delhi, PM Modi said in the last eight years, the number of start-ups in the country has increased from a few hundreds to over 70,000.

PM Modi Modi observed that these 70,000 start-ups are established in about 60 different industries.

Trust in the skill and innovation of our IT professionals in the world is at its new peak, he said.

PM Modi said Biotech Startup Expo 2022 will strengthen the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' movement in the biotech sector.

He said that the Bio-tech is helping give an impetus to multiple sectors such as agriculture.

Through bio-fertilizers and bio-seeds we are being able to help farmers in increasing output, he said.

PM Modi added that the government's efforts to boost chemical-free farming are also creating new opportunities for the bio-sector.

"India has achieved the target of 10 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol. With this achievement, now we have reduced the target of blending 20 per cent ethanol in petrol by five years from 2030 to 2025. All such efforts will create new opportunities in the field of Biotech," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)