Biocon Ltd chairman and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said India’s regulatory environment was the only factor holding back the country’s progress in biotechnology as the company opened a consolidated basic research centre in life sciences in Bangalore on Thursday. “The fact that you are not approving any GM crop after Bt cotton, or your aversion to clinical trials, tells you what is thought of the promise of biotechnology,” Mazumdar-Shaw said in an interview. “Sure, there will be criticism and concerns, just as it is there in Europe and elsewhere, but you have to learn to handle it. Other countries have learnt to handle it because they know what is important for the nation.”