IRONY
The Wire Staff
25/Mar/2026
Growth is driven primarily by buffalo meat exports, which accounts for an overwhelming share of India’s meat export earnings, at consistently around 97 to 98% over the five years.
A meat shop in Bengal's Andal, photographed because it was left open despite a directive from the BJP to keep it shut during Chhath Puja. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee/The Wire.
New Delhi: In the time that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its foot-soldiers have harassed, injured and killed citizens over the sale, transportation and consumption of meat, India’s own exports of meat have only grown, an answer given by the government in parliament has revealed.
The government’s data shows India’s meat exports rising from $3.22 billion to $4.16 billion in the last five years.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) member of parliament John Brittas asked the Minister of Commerce and Industry for:
(a) quantum and details of the meat export from India during the last five years, the details thereof, state-wise and category wise;
(b) quantity of beef, buffalo and other categories of meat exported from India during the last five years, the details thereof, year-wise, State wise and category wise; and
(c) details of revenue earned from meat export during the last five years, the details thereof, year-wise, state-wise and category-wise.
In response, junior commerce minister Jitin Prasada said that the government maintains records only of “total meat exports” from India and does not have state-wise details. “The data for State wise exports of Meat is not maintained in absence of validation, as these are based on the basis of the state-of-origin code reported by the exporters in the shipping bills,” he said.
Prasada also claimed that as per Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)’s Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), “the export of beef (meat of cow, oxen, calf) is prohibited and is not permitted to be exported.”
The government thus provided in its answer the quantity of buffalo and other categories of meat exported from India during the last five years, and year-wise details of revenue earned from meat export during the last five years.
In 2020-21, exports of 10.98 lakh metric tonnes were valued at about US $ 3.22 billion. This increased in 2021–22 to US $ 3.38 billion and about 11.90 lakh tonnes. In 2022-23, while the quantity remained almost similar at around 11.91 lakh tonnes, the export value dipped slightly to US $ 3.27 billion.
A sharp rise was seen in 2023-24, when exports climbed to US $ 3.83 billion and 13.13 lakh tonnes, marking the highest volume in the period. In 2024-25, export value reached its peak at about US $ 4.16 billion, although the quantity declined slightly to around 12.74 lakh tonnes.
From the above two charts, it is clear that India’s meat exports are dominated by buffalo meat, which contributes to the bulk of India’s earnings across five years.
Buffalo meat exports rose from 2020-21, dipped slightly in 2022-23, and then surged to a peak in 2023-24, with export earnings reaching their highest level in 2024–25 despite a drop in quantity.
Growth is driven primarily by buffalo meat exports, which accounts for an overwhelming share of India’s meat export earnings, at consistently around 97 to 98% over the five years.
Sheep/goat and poultry meat exports show growth in both volume and value, though they remain a small share. Processed and other meat categories fluctuate and decline over time, becoming negligible by 2024–25.
This data comes close on the heels of a Scroll.in report on the fact that the 160-year-old Allana group, India’s top exporter of buffalo meat, donated an unprecedented Rs 30 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
This information comes in the background of numerous reports of Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva party workers issuing threats to shut down meat shops ahead of or during any Hindu festivals. Same threats appear from time to time for meat shops close to places of Hindu worship, often from governments.
Instances of Muslim and Dalit meat traders being beaten up or lynched to death by purported cow protectors are by now well known.
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