SAS Nagar, August 17, 2020: CM Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, virtually inaugurated the construction of Punjab Biotechnology Incubator’s Building in Knowledge City Sector 81, Mohali. The announcement was made during State level function celebrating 74th Independence Day held at Mohali.
The construction work of the building on 1 acre of land at a total project cost of Rs 31 crores was started by PWD(B&R) amidst COVID-19 lockdown, informed Sh Alok Shekhar IAS, Principal Secretary Science, Technology and Environment,Punjab.
Conceptualized by its founder CEO Dr SS Marwaha in 2005asenvisioned by Capt. Amarinder Singh, the then CM Punjab, based on the cluster concept seen in Saskatoon, Canada, PBTI has proven a boon for the stakeholders, shared Dr Ajit Dua, Chief Executive Officer of PBTI who had been a part of this journey since its inception. The Knowledge City at Mohali is also an outcome of that vision.
Starting from a basement in Punjab State Council for Science & Technology, PBTI has grown manyfolds over the years with the support of Government of Punjab and various ministries of Government of India including Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Commerce & Industries, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Health& Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare and Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
PBTI has earned the credit of being the 1st public sector multi field NABL accredited Lab in Punjab with more than 2500 parameters covered under its scope, 1st Lab India to establish Nuclear techniques based Honey Authenticity testing facilities in 2015, 1st lab in Punjab to have 15 National & State level recognitions including Referral status under Food Safety & Standards Act, Seeds Act, Water Act & Air Act and approval of FSSAI asNational Reference Laboratory for Honey.
Dr Dua shared that PBTI has also established COVID-19 testing lab in record time with capacity of 1000 tests per day and contributed in State’s initiative to enhance testing capacity through Non-Medico laboratories. The essential analytical services provided by PBTI during COVID lockdown made the export of rice from Punjab possible.
In addition to analytical services, PBTI is also providing Consultancy, Skill enhancement, Human Resource Development and start-up support services. Having been recognized as Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, it has successfully executed various Industry sponsored projects as well as R&D projects of state importance, major being evaluation of Rural water supply schemes in Punjab for DWSS based on which informed decisions regarding mitigation technologies and operation of RO systems were taken. Also acting as Knowledge Partner for establishment and operations of laboratories throughout IndiaPBTI has technically supportedPunjab FDA& DWSSlabs and other State Food labs in the country.It has also established International linkages with UN-FAO IAEA for joint work on Food Authenticity.
Keeping in view the success of PBTI in its domain, the State Government in 2019 notified it as State Analytical Agency in Agri, Food, Water & Environment sectors and also entrusted with the responsibility to steer Mission Biotech Punjab. Punjab State Biotech Corporation also started operating from PBTI in 2019 which is involved in setting up of Life Sciences Park as well as establishing Secondary Agriculture Entrepreneurial Network with the support from DBT-BIRAC.
Industries, Exporters, traders, Farmers, Bee-keepers, Entrepreneurs, Start-ups and regulators of the country in general & Punjab in particular are getting benefitted by the availability of these facilities at their doorstep. This has not only helped the users to save their time in sending the samples to other parts of the country or outside India, as well as saved the outflow of cash from the state.
Dr Dua informed that the new building of PBTI in Knowledge City has been designed as per International standards. Further Sh Alok Shekhar shared that a provision for establishing Plug & Play facility, Common Instrumentation Facility, Skill up gradation Centre and PBTI-PPCB joint Environment Resource Centre has been kept in the new building apart from expansion of existing facilities. The initiative is envisaged to boost export and attract Industry in Life Sciences & Biotechnology sector in Punjab.