NEW DELHI, April 30 (PTI): The Indian vaccine market, which has carved out a place for itself at the global level, is expected to reach a valuation of Rs 252 billion by 2025, Union minister Jitendra Singh has said.
The minister, who is on an official visit to the United Kingdom, also called for extended collaboration between India and the UK in areas of biotech startups and vaccine development.
The world is increasingly realising India’s superlative capacities in preventive healthcare and the country is now in the process of developing several vaccines, Singh, the minister of state for science and technology, said during a tour of the London Science Museum.
He said recently, the first nasal Covid vaccine was successfully manufactured and added that a vaccine related to the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has helped in the prevention of cervical cancer, according to an official statement issued on Sunday.
Singh underlined that the Indian vaccine market, which has carved out a place for itself at the global level, is expected to reach a valuation of Rs 252 billion by 2025, it said.
India is fast emerging as the world’s major bio-economy and over the last few years, it has grown by leaps and bounds when it comes to innovation and technology, he said and pointed out that India has developed four indigenous vaccines in just two years.
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in the Ministry of Science and Technology has through its “Mission COVID Suraksha” delivered four vaccines, augmented the manufacturing of Covaxin and created necessary infrastructure for smooth development of future vaccines “so that our country is pandemic ready”, he said.
During his visit to the 175-year-old London Science Museum, he underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative of setting up similar museums in India, the statement said.
The idea of setting up these museums is to help people, particularly the youngsters, to realise their hidden potential and sometimes even discover their inherent aptitudes of which they themselves may not be aware of, he said.
It also ignites curiosity in them which then may help sharpen their scientific temper and inspire creative innovation, Singh said.
The management of the London Science Museum was particularly impressed by India’s Covid success story, the statement said. The museum is on the Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London, and was founded in 1857.
The minister was taken around the exclusive pavilion set up to trace the history of the Covid pandemic right from the first case to the first person who got vaccinated. India’s lead role in the management and prevention of Covid is also part of the pavilion, the statement said.
The minister was impressed with another pavilion devoted to tropical diseases prevalent in the Indian subcontinent and a special section of the exhibition with banners written in Hindi dedicated to the polio eradication programme led by India which has been an iconic role model for the rest of the world in the area of preventive health care, it added.
