Ahead of a recent collection of hearings within the Supreme Court subsequent month over genetically modified (GM) food crops, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) mentioned there was “progress” on this entrance.
“The matter is sub judice but GM mustard stories are being taken up again,” DBT Secretary Rajesh Gokhale mentioned at a biotechnology occasion on Friday. The DBT, which has for years funded analysis and improvement into transgenic and GM food crops, comes beneath the Ministry of Science and Technology.
At current, Bt cotton is the one genetically modified crop allowed to be cultivated. Though the Environment Ministry gave its conditional go-ahead for business cultivation of GM mustard in 2022, it has not taken off because it was challenged within the Supreme Court.
Science Minister Jitendra Singh who was additionally on the occasion, mentioned, “There is so much dynamism in biotechnology development that we cannot look at tomorrow through the prism of today.”
Hearing from April 15
On March 6, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court mentioned it’ll start listening to from April 15 petitions difficult the Environment Ministry’s approval for cultivation of GM mustard. The courtroom has advised all events to file their written submissions inside per week.
A two-judge Bench of the highest courtroom, on July 23, 2024, gave a cut up verdict on the validity of the Centre’s 2022 determination granting conditional approval for the environmental launch of GM mustard crop. However, it additionally directed the Centre to formulate a “national policy” on GM crops.
Mr. Gokhale advised The Hindu that the DBT had supplied “technical inputs” to the Union Environment Ministry, which was formulating the coverage and was the “nodal coordinator”.
Safety considerations
GM mustard, developed utilizing public funds, was the primary transgenic food crop to be authorised for farmer fields by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, a scientific physique. However, it wasn’t authorised for cultivation following security objections by activist teams.
However, the usage of biotechnology to enhance food crops – as within the case of GM mustard – is a key focus of the federal government’s BioE3 coverage. This entails manufacturing new sorts of enzymes, pharmacueticals and agricultural merchandise whereas making use of strategies, together with genetic engineering.
A report launched by the DBT on the occasion on Friday on the present state of India’s ‘bio-economy’ says that bio-agriculture accounts for 8.1% – the smallest share – of the $165.7 billion bio-economy in India. “Valued at $13.5 billion, this segment enhances agricultural productivity and resilience through genetically modified crops like Bt Cotton and precision agriculture technologies,” the report notes.
In the bio-economy, the bio-industrial section (enzymes,biofuels, bioplastics) made up 47% of the bio-economy, adopted by biopharma (medicines, diagnostics) at 35%, bioIT/analysis providers (contract analysis, scientific trials) at 9%, and at last bio-agriculture. In 2024, Maharashtra led India’s bio-economy contributing 21% ($35 billion), adopted by Karnataka 19% ($32 billion), and Telangana 12% ($19 billion). There had been 10,075 biotech-startups in 2024. This is anticipated to develop to 22,500 by 2030 creating 35 million jobs, the report added.
Published – March 21, 2025 10:22 pm IST
