Highlighting the country’s strides in the pharma and biotechnology sector, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said the Indian vaccine market is expected to reach a valuation of Rs 252 billion by 2025.

Singh, who is leading a high-level official Indian delegation of the Ministry of Science and Technology on a 6-day visit to the United Kingdom, visited the 175-year-old London Science Museum on Sunday. He spoke about setting up similar science museums in India by the government.

The Minister said that the idea of setting up these museums is to help enable the common citizens particularly the youngsters to realise their hidden potential and sometimes even discover their inherent aptitudes of which they themselves may not be aware of. It also ignites curiosity in them which then may help sharpen their scientific temper and inspire creative innovation.

The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857.

The Minister was taken around the exclusive pavilion set up to trace the history of the Covid pandemic right from the first case that appeared to the first person who got vaccinated. The history has been recorded in chronological order for the awareness and education of people. India’s lead role in the management and prevention of Covid has shown to be recognised in the pavilion.

Singh said that India is fast emerging as the world’s major bio-economy and over the last few years, it has grown by leaps and bounds regarding innovation and technology. He pointed out that India has developed four indigenous vaccines in just two years.

The Minister added that the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in the Ministry of Science and Technology has through “Mission COVID Suraksha”, delivered four vaccines, augmented the manufacturing of Covaxin, and created the necessary infrastructure for the smooth development of future vaccines so that the country is pandemic ready.Singh said that the world is now increasingly realising India’s superlative capacities in preventive healthcare and we are now in the process of developing several other vaccines in the series. Recently after the first DNA vaccine, the first nasal vaccine has also been successfully manufactured and another vaccine related to Human Papillomavirus (HPV) which has helped in the prevention of cervical cancer has also been developed.

The Minister underlined that the Indian vaccine market, which has carved out a place for itself at the global level, is expected to reach a valuation of Rs 252 billion by 2025.

He also called for extended collaboration in biotech startups and vaccine development between India and the United Kingdom.