Mazumdar-Shaw calls for biotech sovereignty in India

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Ltd., gave a call for biotech sovereignty while speaking at BioEconomy Conclave 2026 here on Tuesday.

According to her, biotech sovereignty is a strategic and geopolitical necessity today, which will allow India to own its biological data, sovereign AI models rooted in Indian data sets, and its own manufacturing platforms to safeguard health security.

“Those who master the language of life and the language of machines will shape the future of humanity. We must move from one-size-fits-all drugs to programmable biology that reinforces the body’s natural guardrails,’’ Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw said.

The conclave organised by the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), a pan-India forum representing the Indian Biotechnology sector, in association with the Government of Karnataka, brought together industry leaders, policymakers, scientists and pharma and biotech research community.

Speaking at the conclave, Priyank M. Kharge, Minister for Electronics, IT & BT, said Karnataka’s BioEconomy has crossed the $39 billion mark and at present has contributed 10.51% to the State GSDP.

On the industry momentum, he said, the State was adding $10 billion every quarter to the GDP, with a 21% year-on-year growth. Karnataka also has 1,451 biotech start-ups, with 2025 alone seeing the launch of some 218 new ventures.

According to industry experts who participated in the conclave, AI is being leveraged for predictive analysis to help farmers with predictive farming, creating better post-harvest opportunities, and enabling better price discovery. The leaders emphasised a structural shift and highlighted the convergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Biology as the primary engine for India’s next era of medicine and biomanufacturing.