A total of 50 biotechnology laboratories will be set up in Arunachal Pradesh as part of a Rs. 75-crore push to encourage biotechnology research and start-ups, Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan said at a function in Papum Pare, Arunachal Pradesh.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the Centre for Bio Resources and Sustainable Development on Thursday. The labs will be established as part of a Department of Biotechnology scheme, called Biotech Labs in Senior Secondary Schools (BliSS) to encourage students to consider careers in biotechnology.
The programme is part of a larger initiative to establish labs in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Sikkim and Manipur.
According to the scheme, Rs. 15 lakh will be provided per school to set up basic facilities at biotech labs and infrastructure including computers, freezers and microscopes.
Innovation hub
“We are going to ensure that there will be a biotechnology innovation hub in Arunachal Pradesh and we will also promote research into traditional dyes and banana fibre extraction,” he said in a statement.
A State-level biotech hub will be set up in the State for conducting advanced research and for training students in related careers. There would also be an intellectual property cell at the State Science and Technology council, for protecting indigenous traditional knowledge, he added.
Published - December 24, 2016 02:23 am IST
