The Minister said several incentives are being provided by the government to promote biotechnology in health, agriculture and environment, among other fields.
It is for companies and individuals to take advantage of the opportunities, he told a select gathering of investors, academics and professionals in New York, adding major pharmaceutical companies are already entering into partnership with their Indian counterparts which provides world class manufacturing facilities.
He called on experts in the field and NRIs to invest their money and talent in the fast growing and potentially profitable sector.
India, he said, has an abundance of human capital and raw material available at far less the cost compared with the Western nations and new drugs and other products could be developed at less than one-third the money beings spent by major pharmaceutical outfits in the United States.
Besides, India itself provided a huge market for new drugs with its growing older population and the drugs developed there could be sold at premium in the western nations, he told a meeting jointly organized by India-America Chamber of Commerce and Indian Consulate in New York.
Agriculture is another field, which requires constant input from the biotech sector to feed the growing population and to increase the earnings of small farmers, Sibal said, adding the aim is to make the country a major exporter in food products.
Development of disease resistance varieties with longer shelf life and containing nutrients and vitamins is the need of the hour and the country is looking to biotechnology for answers, he said.
Pointing to rising prices of oil, he said India is heavily dependent on foreign oil. It is importing 70 per cent of its requirements and over years it would touch 91.6 per cent.
The biotechnology sector has to find answers and alternatives to reduce country's dependence on oil. This area provides immense opportunities for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Sibal elaborated on the concept of biotech parks that India is setting up and said the sector enjoyed huge tax and tariff benefits. India, he said, is taking steps to increase the availability of human capital for the industry without which it could not function.
In this context, he conceded that the country lacked faculty to teach biotechnology but said it was taking steps to train teachers in this field.
Asked whether genetically altered food crops would be acceptable to the people and how the government planned to deal with environmentalists who oppose that, Sibal said the regulatory agency would ensure that field trials have been properly conducted and that the product is safe.