No incentives for bovine meat exports: Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi, Dec 23: The government today said it does not provide any incentives for exports of bovine meat under the new foreign trade policy.

"As per new foreign trade policy of the government, no incentive is granted for the export of bovine meat," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

She said that as per the data, the meat export industry is worth around USD 5 billion in 2014-15. She also informed that, export of beef is prohibited.

She also said that as per the distribution of legislative powers between the Centre and states, preservation of cattle is the matter on which the states have the exclusive authority to legislate.

The total number of cattle in the country was 190.9 million as per 2012 census. Replying to a separate question, she said to improve ease of doing business, 24 states including Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have created a single window clearance for setting up an enterprise.

India is ranked at 130th position out of 189 countries as ranked by the Doing Business Report 2016 by World bank Group. To another query, she said imports of onion and pulses have helped in moderating the prices of these commodities in the domestic market.

"Import of pulses has also moderated price of pulses. Governmet has ensured availability of pulses at price of Rs 120 per kg through outlets of Kendriya Bhandar and Safal," she said.

PTI