In Rs 4k crore Tamil Nadu cattle industry, Western districts badly gored by Centre’s new rules

Data obtained through RTI shows that the cattle trading industry in Tamil Nadu has an annual turnover of Rs 4,160 crore. While Chennai does not have a cattle market, Coimbatore district has at least four markets with the one in Pollachi alone trading 3,000 cattle every week. Some of the other major cattle markets in the state include the one at Manapparai in Tiruchy district that trades around 2,550 cattle every week and the market in Anthiyur in Erode district that trades 1,000 cattle on a weekly basis. 

Over 53,000 cattle are sold every week in approximately 100 cattle markets across the state. The average cost of a traded animal  is around Rs 15,000 which amounts to about Rs 80 crore a week, data obtained by the People for Cattle in India (PFCI) from the Animal Husbandry department of Tamil Nadu through RTI confirms. 

According to the PFCI, these cattle markets are majorly influenced by slaughterhouse brokers who buy cattle from the farmers. The broker then sells the cattle to slaughterhouses which make even more money after the slaughter of the animals. Commenting on the Livestock Market Regulations Act, Arun Prasanna, Founder, People for Cattle in India (PFCI), said that although they had obtained the data some time ago, the numbers could have only increased over the years. Prasanna said that the data available showed the trade was, by and large, illegal.