Bioentrepreneurship in India

Bioentrepreneurship is neither something very old in India nor it is something totally new or unseen. Entrepreneurship itself is a very old concept in India, descending down the centuries right from olden times when India was a free country right before the colonial era. But industrialism from the west was brought in by the English to the doom of ancient entrepreneurship in the colonial era. Though the British set up industries concerning indigo pre-processing and cloth industry resulting from cotton plantation in Indian subcontinent, they did not encourage any other industries in the country either. The resultant was a late blossoming concept of entrepreneurship which was applied to Biotechnology much later the independence of the nation. Biocon was the first Bioentrepreneurship firm in India having settled on 29th November, 1978 by a lady named Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (married to John Shaw). The company is based in Bangalore and is net worth Rs. 15.55 billion and is one of the top enzyme suppliers in the world.
Bioentrepreneurship
Bioentrepreneurship is the form of entrepreneurship in which a bioentrepreneur takes up a business idea from the field of biotechnology and executes the efficient performance of the idea to set up a new business that profits the society and the bioentrepreneur alike.
Persidis (1969) described bioentrepreneurship as the wealth creation derived from the application of biosciences to the business context.
Students' definition of bioentrepreneurship is simply the act of being a bioentrepreneur and taking up a business idea from the various fields of biotechnology, the proper analysis of the idea - including idea practicability, idea feasibility, market analysis, demand & supply analysis and keeping in mind the uniqueness & originality of the business idea.
Entrepreneurship Word Origins
The word entrepreneurship originates from French where it means "to undertake". Entrepreneurship is the act of being an individual who takes up an idea or simply an entrepreneur or "one who undertakes innovations, finance & business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods."
This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to perceived opportunity. While the most obvious form of plain entrepreneurship is that of starting new businesses (referred to as Startup Company), in recent years, the term has been extended to include social & political forms of entrepreneurial activity.
Bioentrepreneurship as a Name
Entrepreneurship when applied in the field of biotechnology combines with Bio- acting as a prefix before entrepreneurship to give the term Bioentrepreneurship. The word itself indicates that it has got to do with the management of biology - biotechnology, more specifically - and the meaning of the word bioentrepreneurship is justified from the name itself.
Bioentrepreneurship Specifically in Indian Context
Bioentrepreneurship in India is gaining more and more support day-by-day. With the government giving some special facilities for the biotechnology companies like subsidies for various aspects of business like bioentrepreneurship loans, infrastructure, land, material, lab equipment and many others.
In India, bioentrepreneurship is something which has not yet got proper exposure due to two main reasons which are described below:
# The young generation which is on the move towards the IT and management sectors. Bioentrepreneurship sector demands both business acumen & sufficient knowledge of the subject as a whole. The bioentrepreneur is required to possess both these traits.
# The government has not fully recognized the potential of the formidable field of biotechnology and the potential aspects that bioentrepreneurship has in generating employment & developing the socioeconomic face of the Indian economy.
It is can be said that the field of bioentrepreneurship in India will rise high if the basic foremost necessity of trained young biotechnologists is fulfilled, subsidies are granted more readily to encourage spawning of new businesses related to the field and a general awareness is sown into the minds of young generation, promoting biotechnology in public interest.
Examples of Bioentrepreneurship Firms in India
The best example of biotechnology entrepreneurial setup in India is Biocon (http://www.biocon.com) which is constantly taking up new ideas from biotechnology, constantly helping this field evolve and transform through time. Biocon is headed by lady-power Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw who set up the enterprise on November 29 in 1978. Biocon is the first Indian company which has manufactured enzymes and exported them to the US and a decent number of European nations. Biocon has reported a revenue in the year 2011-12 of over Rs. 1,555 crore (US$281.46 million) with the net income for the same period being Rs. 255 crore (US$46.16 million).
Other major examples of bioentrepreneurship firms in India include Serum Institute of India, Panacea Biotec, Venkateshwara Hatcheries, Mahyco Monsanto & Novo Nordisk. All the six examples mentioned are in the elite club with a turnover of more than Rs. 100 crore.

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