Solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the top court the total edible oil demand in India in 2020-21 was 24.6 million tonnes while domestic availability stood at 11.1 million tonnes

Any ban on genetically modified (GM) crops will harm national interest, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday, as the top court reserved its orders on a clutch of petitions challenging their environmental release.

Attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, made the remarks before a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol, as they said that India is already importing huge quantities of edible oil extracted from genetically altered oilseeds for domestic consumption and “unfounded fears” of their adverse impact is hurting farmers, consumers and industry.

“GM oil is being consumed in India for decades. Nobody is arguing here that it should not be consumed. The only question is should it be grown here. The stage at which the country has reached will touch judicial conscience on whether the nation, as a whole, would be harmed if the prayer for ban on GM organisms (GMO) is granted,” solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the top court.

He added: “It is the goal of our nation that by growing more indigenous varieties, there will be less dependence on imports. We have spent lakhs of crores of rupees on imports because the petitioners here have stalled the process of research on these crops. Our note will make it clear who will be helped by the ban and how the nation will be harmed.”

The law officer told the court the total edible oil demand in India in 2020-21 was 24.6 million tonnes while domestic availability stood at 11.1 million tonnes.

In August, the Centre informed the court that 12 years of research has gone behind this project and the environmental release of the GM mustard over four successive sowing seasons will aid scientists in gathering findings considered crucial for achieving higher mustard productivity.