Despite ban, India is world's largest exporter of beef

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Despite Modi government's move to ban slaughter of cow across various states in the country, India is the largest exporter of beef in the world.

According to a report in The Hindu, India retained it's top position as the world's leading exporter of beef and even extended its lead over Brazil, citing a data released by the US Department of Agriculture.

As per the data, India exported 2.4 million tonnes of beef and veal in the financial year 2015 as compared to 2 the million tonnes exported by Brazil. During the same period, Australia exported 1.5 million tonnes, the report said.

And while these three countries account for 58.7 percent of all the beef exports in the world, India alone accounted for 23.5 percent of the exports, a significant rise from the 20.8 percent share that it had in the previous year.

According to reports, cow slaughter is banned in the following states of India - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana , Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

In Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, it is permitted with slaughter certificates.

However, in Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, cow slaughter is permitted.