SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
New Delhi: Among India’s agricultural export items, buffalo meat has shown a massive 25.6 per cent growth in 2025-26 at $5.1 billion. “We crossed $5 billion for the first time last fiscal and are on track to do $6 billion in 2026-27,” a Commerce Ministry official said to The Indian Express.
That’s not all; the value realisation, or simply put, the money made on the sale per tonne of buffalo meat, is remarkable.
If one looks at the numbers, in 2014-15, India exported 14.8 lakh tonnes (lt) of buffalo meat worth $4.8 billion, which is an average value of $3,240 per tonne. The next few years saw a drop in value realisation and exports, but since 2024-25, there has been no looking back.
In 2024-25, exports touched $4.1 billion at a unit value of $3,236 per tonne. The unit value increased to $3,591 in 2025-26 and $4,392 during April-June 2026.
The official said that the higher unit value realisation shows that Indian buffalo meat has been better accepted. “This has been enabled by government policy, allowing exports only from plants registered by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which is conditional upon their meeting stringent safety, hygiene and infrastructure requirements,” the official said.
‘Global brand, not alternative to cattle beed’
Fauzan Alavi, secretary of the All-India Buffalo and Sheep Meat Exporters Association, explains what worked. “In the last couple of years, we have consciously worked at making Indian buffalo meat a global brand and not a number two alternative to cattle beef. The world too is recognising our product quality and safety standards.”
India is the world’s third-largest bovine meat exporter. Trailing behind Brazil at 42.8 lt and Australia at 21.6 lt, its projected volume is 17 lt for 2026, according to US Department of Agriculture data. Our top three exporters are the Mumbai-based Allanasons Private Ltd, the LuLu Group-owned Fair Exports India, and HMA Agro Industries, Agra.
Buffalo meat, also called carabeef, is used for processed industrial foods such as burger patties and ready-to-eat products. The focus now is on raising value realisation by pushing retail sales in smaller packages as well.
Since last October, APEDA has been imposing a Rs 250/tonne levy on exports of all frozen and chilled buffalo meat. The proceeds go towards a Meat Export Development Fund meant for promoting exports.
The efforts are showing in how diverse the market has become. In 2025-26, out of $5.1 billion, 10 countries imported over $100 million worth of meat each. These are Vietnam, Egypt, Malaysia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines and Jordan.
“Uzbekistan is a new market. So are Russia, Georgia, Oman and Senegal,” said the Commerce ministry official.
Boost to dairy economy
Here’s how buffalo meat exports have helped India’s livestock and dairy economy. Export of beef (cattle meat) is not allowed here. Carabeef that is exported is from buffaloes that do not produce enough milk, are infertile, have damaged udders or are males. Maintaining such animals is uneconomical for farmers.
So, by providing a market for unproductive animals, the meat export industry has been complementary to dairying.
India’s total buffalo population is 11 crore (from the 2019 Livestock Census), which allows farmers to replace their low-yielding/ageing animals with young stock.
“In India, beef cattle do not compete with dairy cattle for resources, as is the case in Brazil, Australia, or even the US, because cattle and buffaloes aren’t raised for meat. Only the ones not yielding milk are culled, which is beneficial to the dairy sector,” an industry source said to the newspaper.
The meat industry makes it possible to regularly replace older buffaloes, thus adding to the viability of an animal.
Spurt in dairy products
“We are also seeing higher growth for ghee, cream, paneer, ice cream and khoya-based sweets. The cut in their goods and services tax rates to 0-5%, besides recent crackdowns on adulterated ghee and analogue khoa and paneer, has further fuelled demand for these products. And they all require high-fat milk, which comes largely from buffaloes,” said former managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, R.S. Sodhi.
Dairy plants in UP purchase buffalo milk at Rs 880-920 per kg of fat. With an average Rs 60/litre unit realisation and Rs 50,000 for old/unfit animals, farmers can rear buffaloes and augment production to meet the rising consumer demand.
SOURCE : SIASAT
