A ₹15,000-cr industry, its 25L employees, stare at uncertainty
The BJP’s election manifesto promised to shut down all illegal slaughterhouses and place curbs on all mechanical abattoirs in Uttar Pradesh.
The manifesto said the concerns were about the state’s livestock that suffered during the previous dispensations. Though cow slaughter is banned in UP, there is no curb on killing buffaloes. Here’s a look at the state’s abattoirs and what drives the business: government-run units, of which only two — Agra and Saharanpur — are functional. The other two are proposed in Lucknow and Bareilly. A minimum of 10 acres is needed to set up an integrated meat processing plant (IMPP) at a cost of ₹40-₹50 crore. ₹27,000 crore, of which ₹15,000 crore is contributed by UP alone. Accounting for nearly 50%of India’s total meat exports, UP is the market leader, employing more than 25 lakh people directly or indirectly.
While there are no official estimates of the illegal slaughter business, roughly 140 slaughterhouses and over 50,000 meat shops run without permission.
As per an APEDA report, UP is the highest producer of meat with 19.1% share, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 15.2% and West Bengal at 10.9%.
According to data from the state’s animal husbandry department, from 2008-09 to 2014-15, the state produced 7,515.14 lakh kg of buffalo meat, 1,171.65 lakh kg of goat meat and 230.99 lakh kg of sheep meat.