J Technol Transfer (2008) 33:285–299

DOI 10.1007/s10961-007-9041-3

Technology parks in a developing country: the case

of India

Geetha Vaidyanathan

Published online: 26 June 2007

Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

Abstract Following the economic liberalization of 1991, the government of India

established the software technology parks of India (STPI) scheme and opened numerous
software parks around the country. These parks have played a critical role in the growth of
India’s software sector. In recent years, private software parks have also been established
in different parts of India. The government of India is now promoting biotechnology
(biotech) parks to encourage growth of this emerging sector. The biotech parks are still in
their infancy with a few operating parks. There are several upcoming biotech parks in
different Indian states with support from the respective state governments. The government
of India continues to play an important role in establishing technology parks. Biotech-
Information Technology (Bio-IT) park is the next type of park that the government is
planning to promote. This article discusses the institutional history of these technology
parks in India.

Keywords Software park
Research park
Biotechnology park

JEL Classifications O32
O33
O38
R11

1 Introduction

Science parks (also known as research parks) first originated in western nations, such as the
US and the UK,1 and were often affiliated with academic or research institutions.2 These
parks provide an environment for mutually beneficial collaboration of research and

G. Vaidyanathan (&)
Department of Economics, The Bryan School of Business and Economics, University of North
Carolina – Greensboro, P.O. Box 26165, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, USA
e-mail: g_vaidy2@uncg.edu

1
The Stanford Research Park authorized in 1951 was the first research park in the US while Cambridge
Science Park established in 1970 was the first science park in the UK.
2
All science parks in the UK are affiliated with a university.

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286 G. Vaidyanathan

development (R&D) among tenants in the park, and with academia in the case when they
are university based. Such parks have been considered one model for promoting innova-
tion, entrepreneurship, growth of knowledge-based companies and in turn economic
growth within their regions (Link and Scott 2003). The success of these ventures is an
empirical issue, and the evidence to date is too thin to generalize that all parks are
successful.
Western science parks that have had notable success have influenced developing
countries to adopt the ‘‘park model’’ as a vehicle for technology-based economic growth
and development. East Asian countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and
Malaysia that also started parks, generally referred to as technology parks, have been
successful, especially in attracting foreign investment and promoting growth of knowl-
edge-based industries in these countries.
Interestingly, while Asian countries in general, and India in particular, have imitated the
park model, there are striking differences between their technology parks and the science
parks in the west.3 These differences are important for comparative purposes and for a
broader understanding of high-technology growth in India. Regarding such differences,
most of the technology parks in India are specific to one sector such as information
technology (IT) or biotechnology (biotech), and some of the technology parks are highly
specialized within a sector.4 As well, a majority of the technology parks in India are not
associated with any university. Finally, similar to the technology parks in Taiwan and
Singapore, technology parks in India are export oriented whereas the science parks in the
west are focused on R&D.
As in East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong,
technology parks have been a catalyst for India’s exports and economic growth in the last
two decades. A number of technology parks, especially in the IT sector and more recently
in the biotech sector, have started in India in less than two decades.
Case studies on the institutional history for some of the major research parks include
Castells and Hall (1994) on Silicon Valley (California) and Route 128 (around Boston,
Massachusetts); Luger and Goldstein (1991), Link (1995, 2002) and Link and Scott (2003)
on Research Triangle Park (North Carolina); Gibb (1985), Grayson (1993), Guy (1996a, b)
and Vedovello (1997) on UK Science Parks; Chordà (1996) on French Science Parks;
Phillimore (1999) on Australian Science Parks; and Bakouros et al. (2002) and Sofouli and
Vonortas (2007) on Greek science parks. Surprisingly, there have not been case studies of
parks in developing countries. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to overview, from an
institutional perspective, the history and success of technology parks in India. The article
discusses the Indian economy in Sect. 2, a taxonomy of technology parks in India is posited
in Sect. 3, and then concludes with summary remarks in Sect. 4.

2 The Indian economy

With a population of 1.1 billion and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $3.82 trillion in
purchasing power terms in 2005, India is the fourth largest economy in the world. India is
also one of the fastest growing economies in the world with the growth rate of GDP
averaging above 8% in the last three years (World Bank 2007). A predominantly agri-
3
Of the many parks in India, only four are members of the International Association of Science Parks
(IASP 2007).
4
The upcoming Marine Biotech Park in Vishakapatnam which will specialize in developing biotech
products using marine organisms is one example.

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Technology parks in a developing country 287

cultural economy, from independence in 1947 until the 1980s India was mostly a centrally
planned socialist economy and one of the most closed economies in the world, with
extensive price and quantity controls on imports and exports and severe restrictions on
foreign investment. Public sector enterprises dominated in most sectors in the country and
the economy grew slowly at the Hindu growth rate of 3.5% till 1980.5 The growth rate of
GDP increased to an average rate of 5.7% in the 1980s due to some initial economic
liberalization steps undertaken under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s regime. However, the
economy experienced a balance of payments crisis in 1991 due to two significant events:
the Gulf war of 1991 which resulted in sharp increases in the price of crude oil and
depleted India’s foreign exchange reserves, and the fall of Soviet Union, one of India’s
largest trading partners.
In an attempt to resurge the economy from this crisis, the current prime minister of
India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, a Cambridge and Oxford trained economist who was the
finance minister in 1991, aggressively advocated economic liberalization embracing the
twin pillars of market liberalization and deregulation with major changes in industrial,
trade, and exchange-rate policy. There were three main areas in which economic reforms
were undertaken to promote investment in the country: privatization, foreign direct
investment and trade liberalization. Many industries that were formerly owned by the
government were privatized when the government reduced the list of industries reserved
solely for the public sector from 18 industries to three. Up to 100% foreign ownership was
permitted in a large number of industries except banking, insurance, telecommunications,
and airlines. Finally, tariff rates were decreased from a weighted average import duty rate
of 72.5% in 1991–92 to 29% to 2002–03 (Ahluwalia 2002).
Also during the 1990s, the software industry in the US was experiencing a boom and
faced a shortage of skilled labor. The economically liberalized India, with its abundant
supply of English speaking highly skilled cheap labor, made it an attractive place for U.S.
software companies to invest. However, the economy lacked good telecommunications
infrastructure, the most important of which was ‘bandwidth’ or ‘high speed connectivity,’
for the software industry. The government of India set up technology parks to provide these
facilities as well as other infrastructure to attract foreign companies and to encourage small
and medium domestic entrepreneurs to enter the software industry.
After the success of the software industry in the last decade, the government of India has
been actively promoting the biotech sector, which is considered the next major growth
sector in India, by providing support to individual states within the country to establish
biotech parks.

3 Taxonomy of technology parks in India

The 2006 Park Profile Survey conducted by the Association of University Research Parks
(AURP 2007) reported that Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals (23.8% of companies) and
Software Information Technology (20.2% of companies) are the two most dominant
technologies in research parks. Two related types of technology parks have evolved in
India in the last two decades: software technology parks and biotech parks.
The central and state governments have played a major role in the development of both
these types of parks. While the initial growth of software technology parks was under the
umbrella of the central government, several software technology parks have emerged either
5
Hindu rate of growth is an expression coined by an Indian Economist, Raj Krisha, to refer to the low
annual GDP growth rate of India, which was stagnant around 3.5% from 1950 to 1980.

123
288 G. Vaidyanathan

as joint ventures between the private sector and state governments or as fully private
technology parks. However, the biotech parks are still in their infancy. With a boom
predicted in the biotech sector in the coming decade, several parks are mushrooming in
different states with active support from individual state governments as well as the central
government.

3.1 Software technology parks

The growth of software technology parks in the early years was under the government of
India, which established a scheme that is discussed below to promote the software industry.
In recent years, many parks were started as joint ventures between the private and public
sector as well as fully private parks. There are numerous technology parks in India that range
in size from a single building to parks that are mini-cities with multiple buildings spreading
over many acres. The following discussion covers only the major software technology parks.

3.1.1 Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)

Software technology parks, or STPs, were first established in 1990 in Bangalore, Pune, and
Bhubaneswar as separate autonomous societies. The establishment of STPI, a society that
was set up by the Department of Communication and Information Technology in 1991 by
the Government of India, merged these three societies. STPIs expanded to Noida, Hy-
derabad, Trivandrum, and Gandhinagar. When the state of Karnataka announced a pro-
Information Technology (pro-IT) policy in the early 1990s, other state governments fol-
lowed and STPIs have now spread even to smaller cities.
The STPI headquarters is in New Delhi, the capital of India. There are currently 47
centers listed on the STPI website among which ten are directorates or main centers, and the
remaining 37 are sub-centers. For instance, in the state of Karnataka, there are a total of five
STPI centers of which Bangalore is the directorate and the remaining four (Mysore, Manipal,
Mangalore, and Hubli) are sub-centers. The smaller centers promote smaller cities as IT hubs
and provide localized employment spreading economic growth outside major cities. Figure 1
shows the location of the ten STPI directorates and 37 sub-centers. Even though the STPI
centers are dispersed all over India, the major industry concentration is in Bangalore, Noida,
Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. This distribution reflects the natural technology
clustering effect as has been experienced in other regions such as Silicon Valley.
STPI plays an entrepreneur role working directly with software companies. STPI is an
export-oriented scheme integrating the concept of 100% Export Oriented Units (EOU) and
Export Processing Zones (EPZs) of the Government of India within the concept of tech-
nology parks. The main function of the STPI is to provide an environment for developing
and exporting computer software as well as professional services.
The objectives of STPI are6
• To promote development of software and software services.
• To provide statutory services to the exporters by implementing STP/EHTP Scheme.
• To provide data communication services including various value added services both to
IT industries and corporate houses.

6
http://www.stpmum.soft.net/beginning.html

123
Technology parks in a developing country 289

Srinagar

Jammu

Shimla
Mohali
Dehradun
Gangtok
STPI-HQ Guwahati
New Delhi Lucknow
Siliguri
Jodhpur Imphal
Jaipur Noida Allahabad
Kanpur
Durgapur
Ranchi
Gandhinagar Kolkata

Indore Rourkela Kharagpur

Nashik
Aurangabad
Navi Mumbai Bhilai Bhubaneswar
Nagpur
Pune

Kolhapur Warangal
Vishakapatnam
Hyderabad
Hubli Vijayawada

Bangalore Tirupati
Mangalore Headquarters
Manipal Chennai
Directorates
Mysore Pondicherry
Trichy Sub-centers
Coimbatore
Madurai MAP NOT DRAWN TO SCALE
Tirunelveli
Trivandrum

Fig. 1 Directorates and sub-centers of the STPI

• To provide Project Management and consultancy services both at national and

international level.
• To promote small and medium entrepreneurs by creating a conducive environment in
the field of Information Technology.
• To promote Bio-informatics/Bio-technology industries by providing infrastructural
statutory support.
STPI provides services that range from statutory assistance to incubation services for
startups. The STPI website also lists the following as main highlights of the STPI scheme:
• Permits only new undertakings.
• Allows only development and exports of computer software, data processing, data
management, etc.
• Approval under single window clearance mechanism.
• Permits up to 100% foreign equity.
• No duty on goods imported / procured domestically by the STP units.
• Permits imports of second hand capital goods.
• Export proceeds to be realized within six months from the date of exports.
• 100% tax holiday for export profits till 2009–10.
• 100% of export proceeds to Exchange Earnings Foreign Currency (EEFC) bank
account.
• Permits sales in the domestic market up to 50% of the exports.

123
290 G. Vaidyanathan

Table 1 Estimated state-wide exports by STPI Registered Units

Name of the State Exports in crores Exports in crores Percentage growth
of rupees in Financial of rupees in Financial
Year 2004–2005 Year 2005–2006

Karnataka 27,600 37,000 34

Maharashtra 11,542 15,500 34
Tamil Nadu 10,790 13,960 29
Andhra Pradesh 8,270 12,500 51
Haryana 5,953 8,358 40
Uttar Pradesh 3,825 5,476 43
Delhi 2,453 3,520 43
West Bengal 2,000 2,500 25
Orissa 400 465 16
Kerala 270 260 10
Chhatisgarh 225 294 31
Rajasthan 200 271 36
Gujarat 187 247 32
Madhya Pradesh 140 189 35
Punjab 125 182 46
Pondicherry 30 40 33
Others 8.8 11 25
Source: Annual report for 2005–2006, Ministry of Finance, Government of India

Incubation facilities, popularly known as ‘plug-and-play’ facilities, are made available in

many centers so that firms can begin immediate operations. The incubation facilities
provide ready to use modules, back-up power supply, telephone, and fax facilities,
conference rooms, training facilities, and most importantly high-speed communication
lines, and Internet and video conferencing facilities.7
STPI has promoted foreign direct investment and software exports since its inception.
An examination of the data on the growth of units under STPI and their software exports
leads to some interesting observations. Table 1 provides data on state-wide software ex-
ports of units under STPI for the financial years 2004–05 and 2005–06, as well as the
growth rate of exports between these 2 years. Software exports in STPI units increased by
at least 25% between these two years in all states except Orissa and Kerala. Andhra
Pradesh, whose capital is Hyderabad, is a major technology center; it had the highest
growth rate of exports between these 2 years.
The plot of time series data of software exports from STPI units in Fig. 2 shows an
impressive performance of this sector. Figure 3 shows the time series data of software units
and exporting units within the STPI umbrella, and there is an upward trend in these as well.
Given that 95% of all software exports from India during the 2005–06 were from STPI
units (STPI), STPI has played a significant role in the growth of India’s software exports.
The STPI model has been considered so successful that other developing countries such
as Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Ivory Coast, and Cyprus, are using it to set up technology

7
In a developing country like India, inadequate infrastructure such as intermittent power supply, unpaved
roads, and bureaucracy in getting even basic essential services such as phone connection can be a big
hindrance for attracting investment. STPIs have been able very successful in providing these facilities.

123
Technology parks in a developing country 291

120000

100,809.28
100000
Exports in Crores of R upees

80000 74,019

60000
51,458

37,176
40000
29,523

20,051
20000
11,607
6,200
3,400.21
51.98 116.09 244.82 729.71 1,780.43
0
1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003- 2004- 2005-
93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06
Financial Year

Fig. 2 Growth of exports through STPI. Source: STPI

7,000
6,129
5,806
6,000 5,587

5,000 4,644 4,605

Number of Unit

4,279 4,379
3,901 3,910
4,000 3,544
3,429

2,895
3,000

2,000

1,000

0
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Financial Year
Operating Units
Exporting Units

Fig. 3 Growth of software units under STPI. Source: STPI

parks. For instance, STPI played a major role in the Ebene CyberCity Project in Mauritius
and is providing consulting services for similar parks in Ivory Coast, Cyprus, Nepal, and
Myanmar (STPI).

3.1.2 Technopark, Trivandrum8

Launched in 1996, Technopark is an autonomous society promoted by the government of

Kerala in the city of Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. With a capacity of 2.1 million
square feet, Technopark is spread over nearly 300 acres. In addition to plug-and-play

8
www.technopark.org

123
292 G. Vaidyanathan

facilities such as failsafe physical infrastructure, highly qualified manpower, amenities, and
facilities, Technopark also provides the following unique business value adds:
• Technopark Software Engineering Competency Center (TSECC), a one-stop shop that
guides software development companies on how to build software engineering into the
software development process.
• The ‘eTechnopark‘ initiative, a web based platform that provides a unifying interface
between the outside world, the Technopark community and the Technopark team.
• The ‘Technopark eCampus’ initiative provides an e-learning environment for
continuous upgrading of skills.
• T-BIC—Technopark Business Innovation Center, a business incubator facility.
• Technopark hosts over 110 Information Technology and Information Technology
Enabled services or ITES.9 Ernst and Young Middle East, Tata Elxsi, US Software,
Network Systems & Technologies, IBS, Hays BPO, Suntec, IVL, and Toonz are some
of the companies in the park.

3.1.3 International Tech Park Bangalore, Bangalore (ITPB)10

Opened in 2000, ITPB is a joint venture involving Tata Industries, the Singapore Con-
sortium, and the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board. ITPB is located in
Whitefield, which is 18 km from the center of Bangalore, India’s Silicon Valley. ITPB
spreads over 65 acres and has a capacity of 2 million square feet. It is the first work-live-
play park integrating office, retail, residential and recreational facilities in a single location.
It offers standard IT park facilities such as plug-and-play as well as infrastructure such as
security and fire protection systems, seamless telecommunication networks, optical fiber
connectivity and a dedicated power plant. ITPB currently hosts over 120 companies in the
fields of IT and ITES, software development telecommunications, electronic and other hi-
tech industries and employs over 19,000 professionals. Some of the major companies at
ITPB include ACS, Infineon Technologies, TCS, Lucent Technologies, Agere Systems,
Accelrys, Applied Materials, Sanyo, IBM, GE, Wipro Technologies, Cable and Wireless,
IPsoft Inc., First Advantage, ZapApp, and CAE.

3.1.4 TIDEL Park, Chennai11

Opened in 2000 in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, TIDEL Park is promoted by
Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) and Electronics Corporation of
Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT), both state owned organizations of Government of Tamil
Nadu. It offers standard technology park facilities such as high-speed data/voice com-
munication, 100% back-up power, videoconferencing, and recreation. Some of the major
companies that are located in Tidel Park include Verizon Data Services India (Private)
Ltd., Computer Associates, Satyam Computer Services, Sify, and Accenture Services

9
ITES is a form of outsourced service, which has emerged due to involvement of IT in various fields such
as banking and finance, telecommunications, insurance, etc. Some of the ITES services are medical tran-
scription, back-office accounting, insurance claim, credit card processing and many more. This is also called
Business Process Outsourcing or BPO.
10
www.intltechpark.com
11
www.tidelpark.com

123
Technology parks in a developing country 293

Private Ltd. The park has a built up area of 1.28 million square feet with more than 12,000
employees.

3.1.5 Infopark, Kochi12

Infopark is located in Kochi in the State of Kerala and promoted by the Government of
Kerala. It began operations in November, 2003 on a 100-acre campus. Infopark provides a
Smart Business Center (SBC), a plug-and-play incubation facility at low rentals for startup
enterprises or foreign companies that would like to test the business environment. The park
also provides facilities such as common meeting rooms, interview rooms, etc. There are
two buildings with a total built up area of 0.375 million square feet and is fully occupied.
Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), two major IT firms in India, are located in
Infopark among more than two-dozen companies in the park.

3.1.6 Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City (HITEC City),

Hyderabad13

Started in 1997, HITEC City is marketed and maintained by L and T Infocity Ltd., a joint
venture between Larsen and Toubro Limited, which owns 89% of the venture, and the
Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) Limited, which owns the
remaining 11%. Spread over 151 acres, HITEC City provides 5 million square feet of
office space and infrastructure for plug-and-play facilities for IT and ITES companies. The
park is developed in a phased manner and offers two types of facilities, built up space that
is ready to occupy or independent campuses built to customer specification. There is a
planned residential township to be built adjacent to HITEC City. Microsoft, Oracle, and
HSBC are some of the major tenants in HITEC City.
Additionally, numerous private software parks exist in major cities like Bangalore,
Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad. For instance, the Mumbai STPI lists 17 private parks.14
With individual state governments aggressively promoting software parks by providing
incentives such as tax holidays, there are many upcoming private software parks in many
states.
The Software Technology Park of India website divides the growth of the software
industry in India into the following four phases:
• First Phase: In the first phase which was during the first 2 years after the economic
liberalization in 1991, there were only a few companies such as Texas Instruments,
Hewlett Packard, and Digital, which were exporting software from India, and the
software industry was still in its infancy.
• Second Phase: In this phase, which started in 1993 and lasted till around 2001, the
concept of ‘‘Offshore Development Work’’ became popular with 380 multinational
companies in IC design, communication software, and system software establishing
base in India.
• Third Phase: Software industry continued to expand into new areas with every small
Hi-Tech start-up company in Silicon Valley establishing development centers in major
software hubs like Bangalore and Pune.

12
www.infoparkkochi.com
13
www.ltinfocity.com
14
www.stpmum.soft.net

123
294 G. Vaidyanathan

• Fourth Phase: The software industry is currently in this phase with many Indian
companies owning intellectual property within India and earning royalty from the
global players.
Technology parks have played an important role to foster the growth of the software
industry in India with the software industry contributing 5.4% of India’s GDP in 2006 up
from 4.8% in the previous period. The projected growth of the Indian IT-ITES sector
(including the domestic and exports segments) is 28% for the 2007 fiscal year with rev-
enues expected to exceed USD 47.8 billion (NASSCOM 2007).

3.2 Biotechnology parks (Biotech parks)

The success of software technology parks in the 1990s has served as the impetus for the
central and state governments to support the opening of several biotech parks in India in
the new millennium. India’s biotech industry has experienced rapid growth in the last five
years with over 280 companies generating revenues that exceed $1 billion currently and is
expected to touch US $5 billion in revenues by 2010.15 The biotech industry is now seen as
the next major player in India’s economic growth. The Department of Biotechnology
(DBT)16 established by the Government of India in 1986 has been supporting the growth of
biotech sector in India by establishing science research and academic institutes. Only
recently did individual states start paying attention to this new rapidly growing sector and
DBT has been supporting this technology driven sector by extending financial and logistic
support for the establishment of biotech parks and incubators in various states. The state of
Karnataka, considered the leader in IT sector, was the first one to announce a biotech-
nology policy in 2001, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and other states.
However, Andhra Pradesh was the first state to have an operational biotech park. The
biotech policies announced by individual states are centered on establishing and supporting
biotech parks to bring together companies, universities and R&D institutes in one place.
These parks also offer incubation facilities, tax holidays, incentive packages, and venture
funding initiatives to attract entrepreneurs.
Nearly 25 biotech parks in 15 states have been inaugurated since 2001. Table 2 provides
the list of current and upcoming biotech parks in the 15 states that have announced biotech
policies and Fig. 4 shows the location of these parks. Among these 15 states, Andhra
Pradesh, which has 4 biotech parks, is considered the leader of biotech industry.
The government of Andhra Pradesh has dedicated an area of approximately 600 square
kilometers for ‘Genome Valley,’ the first biotech cluster of India.17 Genome Valley is
situated in Hyderabad and is home to two major biotech parks, ICICI Knowledge Park and
Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park, ICRISAT, an agri–science park, and a biotechnology
incubation center. The Genome Valley is also home for some of the most prominent
scientific research institutions in India, like Indian Institute of Chemical Technology
(IICT), National Institute for Nutrition (NIN), Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diag-
nostics (CDFD), Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), L. V. Prasad Eye
Institute, University of Hyderabad, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder
Metallurgy, and New Materials (ARCI), and so on. Being a biotech cluster, Genome Valley

15
www.ibef.org/industry/biotechnology.aspx
16
http://dbtindia.nic.in
17
www.genomevalley.org

123
Technology parks in a developing country 295

Table 2 Existing and proposed biotechnology parks in individual states in India

State Year of Park Acres Technology area
announcement
of biotech
policy

Andhra 2001 Shapoorji Pallonji Park, Hyderabada 300 Biopharma

Pradesh Marine Biotech Park, Vishakapatnamb 218 Marine
Agri Biotech Park, Hyderabadb 200 Agriculture
ICICI Knowledge Park, Hyderabada 200 Pharma/Biotech
Gujarat 2005 Biotech Park, Savli, Vadodarab 100 Biotech
Haryana 2002 Biotech Park, Manesarb 50 Agri/Healthcare
Himachal 2001 Biotech Park, Solanb 134 Horti/Agri/Herbal
Pradesh
Karnataka 2001 Bangalore Helix, Bangaloreb 104 Biotech
Kerala 2003 Kinfra Biotech Park, Kalamassery, Kochib 50 Agri/Pharma/
Industrial biotech
Kinfra Bio Park, Trivandrumb 25 Agri/Pharma
Madhya 2003 Herbal Pharma Park, Betma near Indoreb 167 Agri/Biopharma
Pradesh
Maharashtra 2001 International Biotech Park, Hinjawadi, Punea 103 Biopharma
Biotech Park, Jalna, Aurangabadb 100 Agri/Biotech
Orissa 2005 Orissa Biotech Park, Patrapada, 74 Agri/Healthcare
Bhubaneswarb
Biotech Park, Konark, Chandrabhagab 22 Marine
Punjab 2003 Biotech Park, Derabassi, Chandigarhb 100 Agri/Biopharma/
Industrial biotech
Rajasthan 2004 Biotech Park, Sitapur, Jaipurb 30 Biotech
Biotech Park, Boranda, Jodhpurb 30 Biotech
Biotech Park, Bhiwadib 30 Biotech
Tamil Nadu 2001 TIDEL BioPark Taramani, Chennaib 5 Biotech
Golden Jubilee Biotech Park for Women 20 Agri/Biotech
Society, Chennaia
Uttar Pradesh 2004 Biotech Park, Lucknowa 8 Agri/Healthcare
Uttaranchal 2004 Pantnagar Biotech Park, Haldib 1,000 Agri/Healthcare
West Bengal 2004 Kolkata Biotech Parkb 100 Pharma
a
Existing parks
b
Proposed parks
Sources: Biospectrum (2005) and Department of Biotechnology

provides an environment for biotech research, training, collaboration, and manufacturing

activities with some of India’s leading biotech institutions and companies located here.
There are over 100 biotech companies currently located in Genome Valley. The following
discussion focuses on biotech parks that are currently in operation.

123
296 G. Vaidyanathan

Solan
Chandigarh

Manesar
Bhiwadi
Jodhpur
Jaipur Lucknow

Kolkata

Indore Haldi
Vadodara
Bhubaneswar
Aurangabad
Pune Konark

Hyderabad
Vishakapatnam

Bangalore

Chennai

Kochi Operational Parks

Upcoming Parks
MAP NOT DRAWN TO SCALE
Trivandrum

Fig. 4 Location of biotechnology parks in India

3.2.1 ICICI Knowledge Park (IKP)18

Situated in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, IKP, a partnership between ICICI Bank Limited
and the Government of Andhra Pradesh, is spread over a 200 acre pollution free zone and
began operations in 2003. It has a mix of ready-to-use modular wet laboratory blocks with
analytical facilities like a 300 MHz NMR, LCMS, HPLC, GC, FTIR, and Polarimeter. The
park also provides administrative and statutory support services such as speedy customs
clearance, environmental clearances, legal/patent counseling, assistance in getting venture
funding, science, and technology advisory services, liaison with government departments,
secretarial services, etc.
In order to encourage startup companies and spin-offs in pharmaceutical and biotech-
nology companies, ICICI Knowledge Park has set up a Life Science Incubator (LSI) with
an incubation space of around 3,200 square feet. ICICI Knowledge Park currently leases
ready to use labs for renewable short periods (3 years). Currently, the park has had a total
of 26 companies of which 8 have graduated. There are 18 companies doing R&D in various
areas of the pharmaceutical value chain.

18
www.iciciknowledgepark.com

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3.2.2 Shapoorji Pallonji Park19

Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park Pvt. Ltd., a joint venture Company with the Government of
Andhra Pradesh is also situated in Genome Valley in Hyderabad. World class infrastruc-
ture for setting up of manufacturing or research facilities, business support facilities and a
state of art technology incubation center with a pilot plant and analytical equipment
carefully selected to cater a wide range of technologies are some of the facilities offered at
the park. The park has also forged alliances with leading research institutions around the
world that include Research Triangle Park, USA; TechnologiePark Heidelberg, West
Germany; and the Biotechnologie Park Luckenwalde, New Berlin to provide networking
opportunities for its clients.

3.2.3 International Biotech Park, Pune20

A public–private partnership model between TCG Urban Infrastructure Holdings Limited

(A Chatterjee Group Company) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation
(MIDC), International Biotech Park, Pune (IBPP), a 110-acre biotech park, was incorpo-
rated in 2003. The park’s close proximity to research and academic institutions in the Pune
area will enable collaboration between academic and research institutions, and industry.
The park provides a research center, incubation center, and a business facilitation center.

3.2.4 Golden Jubilee Biotech Park for Women Society21

The first biotech park to promote entrepreneurship among women, the Golden Jubilee
Biotech Park for Women society has been developed on 20 acres of land in Siruseri
Village, just 25 km from Chennai, inside SIPCOT-IT Park. The park offers standard
facilities for the biotechnology industry such as pre-built industrial units for short to
medium term lease, land for building factories or setting up agro-biotechnology activities,
state of the art informatics center, business center, bio-supermarket, training center and
support services such as project identification and technology sourcing, consultancy/
advisory services, and market linkages. As an added attraction, the park has created a
database of over 500 technologies/projects covering about 150 research institutions.

3.2.5 Biotech Park, Lucknow22

Biotech Park, Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) is a joint collaboration
of UP government and the central government, which started operations in 2004. The focus
of research in this park is in agriculture and health care and the facilities provided in this
park include a biofertilizer facility for research in organic fertilizers, tissue culture for
research on plants, extraction unit, distillation unit, vermicomposting and glass houses.
Additionally, the park has a central facility that houses plants for distilled water and
provides basic equipments for the analysis and testing of products. The Bioinformatics

19
www.spbiotechpark.in
20
www.ibpl.net
21
www.biotechpark.com
22
www.biotechcitylucknow.org/index1.htm

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298 G. Vaidyanathan

Center, Biotech city, formed in 2001, at Industrial Toxicology Research Center (ITRC),
Lucknow, serves as a networking site and provides training to scientists and students.
More than a dozen biotech parks are under planning or development stages in India and
the Department of Biotechnology has committed to support 10 biotech parks by 2010.
Individual state governments have also joined hands with the biotech sector to participate
in the expected boom in this new industry in India.

4 Conclusions

This article has overviewed the institutional history of two main types of technology parks
that have evolved in India since 1991, following the economic liberalization policies by the
Indian government. The software parks in India have expanded widely in all regions of
India with the state of Karnataka in south India being considered the leader of software
industry. The biotech parks are still in their infancy, but they are growing quite rapidly due
to pro-biotechnology state policies announced by many states in the new millennium.
The state of Andhra Pradesh, also in south India, is the leading state in the development
of the biotechnology sector. One of the most important features of both these types of parks
is the catalyst role played by the Government of India which has provided a model for
encouraging collaboration between the private, public, and foreign sector. This business
model has been successful in attracting foreign investment as evidenced by the burgeoning
number of multinational companies in India in the last decade. The park model has also
been attracting domestic entrepreneurs both in the software industry and biotech industry.
As a continuation of its pro-technology policies, the Department of Information
Technology (DIT), Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, in conjunc-
tion with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, is
currently considering forming Bio-IT parks to promote activities in the Bio-IT industry in
which IT applications are used in Life Sciences (STPI).
While technology parks have played a crucial role in the growth of the software sector
in India, other factors such as favorable economic policies that include tax holidays, a
ready availability of skilled labor and global demand for software products have also been
important in the success of these parks in India. It is important to note that replicating
India’s park model in other developing countries will require careful analysis of the
availability of these other factors in each country.

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