Tamil Nadu State Promotional Policy for Life Sciences
Tamil Nadu intends to become a leading destination for research and development for Life Sciences. To accomplish this, the state has initiated a promotional policy. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr M.K Stalin on Monday, 4th July 2022, unveiled the Life Science and R&D policy for the year 2022.
There was an emerging demand for Life Sciences after the COVID-19 pandemic where many specialists and companies decided to conduct further research in Life Sciences and its allied departments. Due to major advancements in Life Sciences research, quality of life of many people drastically improved as it promoted healthcare essentials and an individual’s well-being.
The Life Science policy aims to attract Rs.20,000 crore investment and generate nearly 50,000 jobs to boost employment opportunities by 2030. Most of whom can choose to become a researcher in biologics or work in biosimilars and medical technology.
Developing advanced ecosystems with high-performance sectors such as Electronics, Textiles, Information Technology, Automobiles and Auto-components cater for the needs of Life Science manufacturing. Tamil Nadu is one of the most preferred destinations with its unique state of art infrastructure and emerging market demand. In comparison to the past, Life Sciences saw a massive transformation which created novel opportunities both nationally and internationally and increased the importance of the field in every sector.
The policy is designed in such a way that the Life Sciences and R&D sectors can cater to the industry which can help enable the ecosystem and meet the emerging needs of infrastructure. The few industries that will be benefitted through this policy include:
- Pharmaceuticals and Bulk Drugs
- Medical Textile and Manufacturing Drugs
- Biotechnology
- Medical Devices
The policy also provides sustainable financial support for each project they take up and will launch special incentives for the field. The Government of Tamil Nadu offers a wide range of schemes for Micro, Small or Medium Enterprise based (MSME) enterprises. These incentives were being granted to the eligible industries for investment promotion and from the Department of Commerce based on the guidance of Tamil Nadu. The Government of Tamil Nadu also launched a single-window portal through which the regulations will be simplified and will improves the ease of business performance for the companies in the Life Science sector.
There was a drastic change in the infrastructure facilities of the State to promotes the industrial, technological and the R&D sector. Industrial and academia collaboration serves as a connecting link to help in grabbing talent pool essential for industries. Developing Centres of Excellence facilitates R&D collaboration globally.
Academicians and Global Tamil scientists initiated the 100 Talent Plan as they are eager to collaborate on projects in the State Universities. Technology transfer offices (TTOs) or technology licensing offices (TLOs) were also set up in all popular universities. TTOs are responsible for technology transfer and other aspects of research commercialization that occurs in a university. This policy also provides grants and stipends for PhD programmes and creates training programs for faculty members.
The policy also proposed establishing regional startup hubs (TANSIM) and i- Tamil Nadu Technology Hub (iTNT) that builds India’s first deep tech innovation network and MSME program respectively.
