March 14, 2014

India expects meat exports to grow by 5%

In the current financial year ending March 31, India's meat exports are expected to grow by 5% to about INR18,270 crore (US$3 billion), mainly on strong demand, Food Processing Secretary Siraj Hussain said.

"Meat export is booming. We exported INR17,400 crore (US$2.8 billion) worth of meat last fiscal. This year, we expect exports to grow by 5% as there is good demand," Hussain said.

India exports unprocessed meat, mostly buffalo meat. However, the export realisation per tonne at present is much lower. If safety standards are further improved, India can fetch good price in the global market, he added.

Highlighting export opportunities, Hussain said exports could grow several times with the opening of Chinese market.

"In fact, the agreement has already been signed with China but protocols are not yet finalised. If the Chinese market opens, our meat exports can be several times higher," he said.

China is a big market for Indian meat. Currently, one third of the total buffalo meat is exported to Vietnam.

Besides buffalo meat, there is a growing demand for Indian chicken. "McDonald Pakistan wants to import chicken from India. This can happen, when the trade between two countries stabilises," he said.

On providing safe food to consumers, he said India is a vast country with a huge population. People still eat at places that are unhygienic. The challenge before them is to address this situation.

Lack of infrastructure facilities to maintain quality systems, especially in unorganised sector, is the major hurdle in the way of achieving desired standards of food safety in the country, he added.