Monsanto slips over 14% as govt puts GM crop testing on hold

NEW DELHI: Shares of Monsanto India plunged as much as 14.4 per cent in trade on Wednesday, a day after the government ordered to put field trials of 13 genetically modified crops on hold.

At 12:30 p.m.; the stock was trading 6.2 per cent lower at Rs 1862.80. It hit a low of Rs 1700 and a high of Rs 1934 in trade today. The Trading volumes on the BSE saw a surge of over three-times, till 12.30 PM a total of 29,000 shares changed hands compared to its two-week average of 8,761 shares.

Minister for environment and forest Prakash Javadekar said that the government has decided to suspend the decision by the statutory committee of genetic engineering to allow field trials of 13 genetically modified or GM crops, ET reported.

This marks a departure from the previous Congress led UPA government's policy on genetically modified crops, added the report.