If you’re exploring biotechnology career options in India, you might’ve heard mixed stories. On one hand, India’s biotech sector is expanding. On the other hand, many graduates tell me the same thing: “Where are the jobs?” Let’s walk through what’s holding the field back in India and also why you still shouldn’t lose hope.

Why Biotech isn't growing in India

Here are a few honest reasons why things are slower than they should be:

• Regulatory and scale-up bottlenecks
  New biotech products or therapies take a long time to go from lab to market in India. For example, India’s biotech market-infrastructure struggles to support full cycle product development.

• Talent & skill mismatch
  Even though India has many life science and biotech graduates, the skills needed in cutting-edge areas like bioinformatics, synthetic biology and biomanufacturing are often missing.

• Infrastructure gaps & uneven regional growth
  Most biotech hubs are concentrated in a handful of states (e.g., Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana), leaving many regions behind. Also, advanced manufacturing & GMP-grade facilities are still few.

• Funding and ecosystem challenges
  While India’s bio-economy has grown, converting ideas into market-ready products is still hard. Many startups struggle with scale-up funding, which slows growth of the field.

Biotech's Growth and promising opportunities

Despite the delays, things are moving forward. Here’s some positivity for your biotechnology job opportunities and for anyone planning biotech careers:

• India’s bio-economy has grown from about US $10 billion in 2014 to US $165.7 billion in 2024. It’s projected to hit around US $300 billion by 2030.

• The government’s BioE3 Policy (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment & Employment) is aiming to turn India into a global biotech hub, especially in biomanufacturing and innovation.

• With the growth of life science GCCs (global capability centres) and biomanufacturing, there’ll be more bioinformatics job roles, more roles in bioprocessing, digital biology and biotech services.

What You Should Do as a Student or Early-Career Professional

If you’re thinking about entering this field, here are some smart moves:

• Build hybrid skills: Don’t just rely on “wet-lab” biology. Learn computational tools (bioinformatics, data analysis), and also understand manufacturing, scale-up and regulation.

• Focus on emerging areas: Make yourself valuable in fields like synthetic biology, AI in biotech, genomics, bioprocessing, the areas where India is trying to grow.

• Look beyond traditional jobs: Keep an eye on roles like bioinformatics engineer, bioprocess development specialist, data scientist for biotech, not just generic lab technician roles.

• Choose programmes/experiences wisely: If you're picking education or internships, choose those that expose you to real industry, real manufacturing or real scale-up, not only textbook learning.

• Be ready to adapt: Because the ecosystem is evolving, you’ll benefit if you’re comfortable switching between lab, computation and business environments.

Final Thoughts

Yes, India’s biotech field could have moved faster. The ecosystem has gaps: talent mismatch, infrastructure, regulation. But you don’t have to wait. If you gear yourself up with the right skills, mindset and flexibility, you’ll be ready for the biologics, digital biology and biomanufacturing boom that’s gearing up.
You’re in the right place to prepare, and for biotech careers in India, this could turn out to be an exciting time.