Bengaluru, Mar 23 (IANS): The Karnataka government is planning to tap the Central government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to aggressively push for investments in the biopharmaceuticals and medical devices sector, C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister of Information Technology-Biotechnology, Higher Education and Science and Technology, said on Tuesday.

Participating in the 'Bioeconomy 2025 and Beyond' programme organised by the Association of Bioeconomy Led Enterprises (ABLE), Narayan said, "Bioeconomy of the state, which is currently valued at $24.4 billion contributing 33 per cent to the national share, is on course to achieve $50 billion value by 2025."

The bio-industrial segment comprising bio-renewables, bioenergy, biofuels, and green chemicals is expected to be the next big segment that can drive future growth. This segment has the potential to increase by four-fold in its contribution to the bioeconomy of the state from $1-2 billion to $6-7 billion, he said.

"The state government plans to attract investments in bio-agriculture (agriculture and animal husbandry) and bio-industrial (enzymes, biofuels, biomass, and green chemicals) industries as well to increase the share of bioeconomy. Research and development services, marine biotech and BioIT and informatics services will be the focus areas for the state of Karnataka over the next few years," Narayan said.

Stating that Karnataka is the third-largest producer of biofuels and among the states which reached 9 per cent blending of petrol in 2021, he added that the state's biotech industry has crossed $180 million in R&D spend.

As many as 95 biotech startups were set up in Karnataka in 2021, averaging almost eight startups every month, the minister stated.

Karnataka has emerged as the preferred destination for biotech investments in India, he said.

At present, the state hosts about 60 per cent of the biotech companies in the country and employs about 54 per cent of India's total biotech workforce, Narayan said.