Gandhinagar, 13 January 2026: Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of Gujarat’s first state-of-the-art Bio-Containment Facility “Bio Safety Level-4” lab as well as the “Animal Bio-Safety Level” facility in Gandhinagar, in the presence of Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel.

During this ceremony, the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, granted a Letter of Intent (LoI) to the Gujarat Science and Technology Department to designate the “Bio Safety Level-4” facility of the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) as the ‘National Centre for High Containment Pathogen Research Facility’ under the Government of India’s “BioE3 Policy”.

Union Home Minister stated that a new era has begun from Gujarat in the development of India’s health security and bio-safety sector. After Pune, this is only the second such high-level lab in the country; however, due to the special initiative of the state government, this will become the country’s first state government-operated BSL-4 lab, to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 362 crore. In the future, this lab will prove to be India’s impregnable security shield and a strong fortress of bio-facilities to combat deadly viruses.

Reiterating Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision that ‘science and technology should be the foundation pillar of national development’, he said that this international-standard lab will open many avenues of opportunity for researchers and youth. Especially, this lab will accelerate the “One Health Mission” initiated by the Prime Minister to prevent diseases transmitted from animals to humans. In showing resilience against recent challenges such as Chandipura and Lumpy Skin Disease experienced by Gujarat, such a research-based permanent security arrangement was essential.

Presenting figures reflecting the revolutionary transformation in India’s biotechnology sector, he said that unprecedented progress has been made in the last 11 years. India’s bio-economy, which stood at 10 billion dollars in 2014, has grown to over 166 billion dollars by 2024. Considering research as the ‘soul of innovation’, due to the infrastructural facilities provided by the central government, Indian scientists today are conducting world-class research in a highly secure environment.

Highlighting the growth in the startup and investment sectors, he said that in 2014 there were fewer than 500 startups in this field, which have now grown to more than 10,000. Similarly, the number of incubators has increased from 6 to 95, and incubation space has expanded from 60,000 square feet to 9 lakh square feet. Notably, private investment funding has increased from Rs. 10 crore to Rs. 7,000 crore, and the number of patent filings has risen from 125 to over 1,300, indicating that India’s youth are now becoming ‘job givers’ rather than ‘job seekers’. He stated that under the Government of India’s “BioE3 Policy”, there is a resolve to take the country to greater heights in the biotechnology sector. India today is indigenously manufacturing vaccines for serious diseases such as Corona and cervical cancer. He called upon students and researchers, stating that the responsibility of ensuring India’s health security now rests on their shoulders. This lab will be capable of bringing about many positive transformations in the health sector in the coming times.

He stated that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, India today is moving forward by carrying both ‘development’ and ‘heritage’ together. During the Corona period, Indian scientists developed vaccines in a short time, safeguarding 140 crore citizens and helping the world, based on the approach of making science and technology the foundation pillar of national development. With this lab, Indian scientists will no longer need to depend on foreign countries for sample testing, thereby fulfilling the resolve of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in the health sector. He expressed confidence that by 2027, India will also be among the world’s leading nations in the semiconductor and biotechnology sectors.

He expressed concern over the ‘silent disaster’ (AMR) arising from the misuse of antibiotics and urged students and researchers to protect the next generation through research. He called upon students studying in the biotech sector to make maximum use of national facilities to develop pharmaceutical formulations and vaccines beneficial to human life and to achieve the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. This facility will emerge as a protective shield not only for Gujarat but for the entire country.

As the country moves towards ‘Viksit Bharat’ under the guidance of the Prime Minister, science such as biotechnology will provide us security, while heritage like the Somnath Swabhiman Parva will give us a proud identity. India today is building the edifice of modern science on the foundation of culture. This new research in the biotech sector will take the country’s healthcare sector to new heights.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel described this project, which will make the country more secure against potential pandemics, as an important initiative of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s healthcare and modern infrastructure development vision.

He said that the Prime Minister is a visionary leader who thinks ahead of time, and it is due to such vision that by operationalising the GBRC, the goal of self-reliance has been achieved so that diagnosis and research of serious health sector challenges such as viral outbreaks, genetic infections, and pandemics need not depend on external institutions.

The Chief Minister expressed confidence that with the operationalisation of the BSL-4 lab, research on high-risk viruses will be possible within the state, enabling timely, accurate, and reliable diagnosis, and strengthening and equipping the healthcare system further. He stated that GBRC is not only a research institution but also a nodal center of the state’s biotech capacity, adding that the research conducted at the BSL-4 lab will directly translate into diagnosis, treatment, and public health policies as translational research. He stated that this BSL-4 facility will prove to be a milestone in realising the Prime Minister’s resolve of Viksit Bharat @ 2047 through a healthy, secure, and self-reliant India. DeshGujarat