The Genetic Engineering Assessment Committee (GEAC), a unit of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, has approved the genetically modified mustard seed, a senior scientist and agricultural expert in India said.

Three government sources, who requested anonymity according to official rules, also confirmed the permit.

The lab-modified mustard seed was developed by Deepak Pental, a scientist and former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, and his team. Pental and his colleagues have been working on GM mustard for more than a decade.

“I could call this a historic development,” Pental told Reuters on Wednesday.

He said commercial use of GM mustard seeds would take several years.

India is the world’s largest importer of vegetable oil. The country spends tens of billions of dollars importing cooking oil every year, as the country meets more than 70% of its vegetable oil demand through imports from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, and from Ukraine.

“The GEAC decision recognizes the potential of biotechnology to solve India’s growing problem of India’s vegetable oil imports,” said Bhagirath Choudhary, director of the South Asia Biotech Centre, a non-profit science society.

Many scientists and agricultural experts have called for faster approval of genetically modified crops in India, where agriculture is shrinking due to rapid urbanization and erratic weather patterns that threaten production of staples such as rice and wheat.

But conservative politicians and advocacy groups oppose lab-modified crops because they believe GM crops can harm food security and biodiversity and also pose health risks.

India first allowed the cultivation of GMOs in 2002 with genetically modified cotton. Apart from GM cotton, New Delhi has not approved any other GM crops.

Genetically modified cotton has helped make India the world’s largest cotton producer and second largest exporter of cotton, with production increasing fourfold.