Beef Exports And India's GDP

When most people hear beef and India in the same sentence, several socio-political thoughts come to their head. Out of India’s population of 1.2 billion people, a substantial number is unaware of the crucial role beef exports play in our country’s GDP. While beef may remain banned in most states in India,

it certainly doesn’t deter the Indian government from capitalising on its demands in the world market. India stands as the largest exporter of beef in the world. It contributes 2.4 million tonnes of beef, which constitutes of 20% of the worlds beef exports.

These exports earn India $4.8 billion- an amount that surpasses the revenue generated from selling Basmati Rice in the world markets. Moreover, they also provide a source of employment to over 22 lakh people in the country and provide cattle owners with a source of income. In the last financial year alone, India’s GDP growth rate saw an underperformance with a growth rate of 6.6%. This went under the predicted market rate of 6.9% in the last period. The growing economy has on a single export item, numbers depict the high level of dependency that the world’s largest but also sheds light on the composition of the country’s GDP. Currently, cattle slaughter is banned in 20 out of 29 states in India. With just support of the remaining nine, consisting mainly of northeast and southern states India has managed to become the fourth largest producer of beef in the world.

India’s primary source of cattle is the water buffalo, which is cheaper than cow meat and exported to the beef market worldwide. It’s the cheaper meat of the water buffalo that has given India an edge-over other beef exporting countries. Not only have they lowered their costs of production, but additionally, most of this activity happens in the nine states that currently do not impose a ban on beef slaughter. This shows that if India were to centrally legalise cattle slaughter for economic purposes, the country’s GDP could see a potential growth. However, when addressing an issue such as beef- a topic, constantly surrounded with communal controversy – several misconceptions surrounding the topic tend to overshadow the economic importance of the commodity.

Apart from the domestic increase in the consumption of beef, a large amount of the population is unaware of the economics benefits that come from the export of beef. While the export process increases the level of employment in the economy it also boosts the county’s GDP by nearly 22,100 crores. Furthermore, it reduces the level of inequality among cattle owners and empowers one of the most impoverished social sectors in the country by providing them with a substantial amount of income. While addressing an issue such as beef from an economic aspect, one perceives how vital a role it plays in the country’s national income. Despite its production in a limited number of states, beef outplays a food product that is produced by almost 70% of the national population, revealing the economic advantage that beef exports provide to India. Despite the controversial nature of the topic, the Indian economy survives- or rather thrives- on the exports of a commodity whose consumption is largely banned within its own country.