Pune -- SCIENCE and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal has said that new Biotechnology (BT) policies in the field of health and agriculture were being worked out by the government. ''The BT policy for health will be announced in January 2005,'' he said, and added that the same for agriculture would take some more time.

Among other things, the BT policy for agriculture is expected to address issues like genetically-modified crops. ''We have to consult the Ministry of Agriculture and other concerned departments in devising this policy,'' he added.

Sibal was talking to reporters at the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) here on Tuesday as part of his two-day familiarisation visit to research and development (R&D) institutions under his ministry and based in Pune.

Besides NCL, he visited the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and was scheduled to visit C-DAC, National Centre for Cell Science and Agharkar Research Institute on Wednesday.

Referring to the low R&D investment in India, Sibal observed that promoting public-private partnership on a larger scale was the way out. ''At present the R&D investment is a low 0.9 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product when it should be at least two per cent,'' he said. ''The discovery of a new molecule Sudoterb to treat tuberculosis (TB) made by eleven institutions under the Department of Science and Technology in association with Lupin Laboratories is a good example on how such partnerships can work,'' Sibal said.

He stressed the need for an appropriate framework and environment to enable this. At the same time, Sibal said that the partnership by national institutions should be with Indian private sector and not foreign companies.

''All the research institutions need to be made autonomous both functionally and economically,'' Sibal said, pointing out that NCL was a good example where an organisation has started generating revenues and ploughing it back to increase capacities and capabilities at the laboratory.

Speaking on Sudoterb, he said, multi-national companies (MNCs) engaged in pharmaceuticals, cannot be expected to invest millions of dollars in diseases affecting the developed world as they do not find immediate gains. ''We will have to find solutions ourselves for diseases like TB, malaria and HIV/AIDs,'' Sibal said.

Referring to the ban on use of animals for tests in research projects, the minister said that there was concern about the ban in the scientific community and the matter was being addressed at the highest level as it also involved the Ministry of Environment and Forests. ''The Prime Minister is looking into it and I hope the restrictions will be lifted soon,'' he added.

He said the ministry was further looking into research in areas concerning biofuel and generating diesel from jathropa. Besides, hydrocarbons and gas as a parallel source of energy.

He said, vast tracts of wastelands will have to be brought under jathropa plantation but the cost factor was an impediment. ''We will have to bring the cost down,'' he added.

On the shortage of world-class scientists at the highest levels in the country, he stressed the need for having an inverted pyramid structure where more top-class scientists are created.

For this, Sibal is banking on the Human Resource Development Ministry's project to raise four national institutes of sciences (NIScs). ''We need even more such institutions considering that innovation and technology will be the key to all development in the future,'' he added.