India is home to the world’s largest buffalo population – a fact that carries enormous significance not just for its dairy sector, but increasingly for its meat industry as well. The Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) has long been a cornerstone of Indian agriculture, valued for milk, draught power, and, more recently, as a major source of meat for export. Understanding how India’s buffalo population has grown, where it is concentrated, and how it connects to meat production offers a clear picture of this animal’s outsized role in the country’s agrarian economy.
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Buffalo population growth: from the late 1990s to today
India’s buffalo population has followed a broadly upward trajectory over recent decades. In the 17th Livestock Census (1997), the count stood at approximately 89.92 million, rising to 97.92 million by the time of the 2003 census – an increase of roughly 8.9%. That figure represented about 20.2% of the total livestock population at the time, underscoring just how central buffaloes are to India’s livestock sector.
The growth continued in subsequent years. During the period from 2007 to 2012, the buffalo population increased from 105.34 million to 108.70 million, showing a growth of 3.19%. According to the 20th Livestock Census (2019), the total buffalo population in India stood at 109.85 million, showing an increase of about 1.1% over the 2012 census. Meanwhile, buffaloes contribute about 20.5% of the country’s total livestock population.
On a global scale, India’s dominance is striking. India holds over 56.7% of the total world buffalo population and is the highest producer of buffalo milk in the world, with a total share of 68.21%. Projections from researchers at the ICAR Journal of Livestock Biodiversity suggest that the population of buffaloes is estimated to increase to 126.055 million by 2031.
State-wise distribution: where the buffaloes are
Buffalo rearing in India is geographically concentrated. According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), Uttar Pradesh has the largest population of buffaloes at 33.017 million, possessing about 30.06% of the total buffaloes in India, followed by Rajasthan at 13.693 million and Gujarat at 10.543 million. Only four states – Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh – hold 61.50% of the total buffalo population of the country. Expanding the picture slightly, these four states along with Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana, and Punjab together hold 90.77% of India’s total buffalo population.
The older census data in the blog outline specifically cited Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan as the dominant states – a pattern that broadly holds true even today, with Andhra Pradesh still ranking among the top producers. District-level data further reveals concentration within these states. In terms of density per square kilometre, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Moradabad, and Sambhal, all in Uttar Pradesh, have the highest buffalo densities.
Breed diversity across the country
India recognises 19 registered buffalo breeds, ranging from the high-yielding Murrah of Haryana and Punjab to the fat-rich Bhadawari of Uttar Pradesh and the large-framed Jaffarabadi of Gujarat. Among the breeds of Indian buffaloes, Murrah has the largest population, with Murrah and its grades forming 45.81% of the total buffalo population of India. There are 22.3 million purebred buffaloes and 37.6 million grades of different breeds available in the country. The diversity of breeds across different agro-climatic zones reflects how deeply integrated the buffalo is into regional farming systems, from the irrigated plains of the north to the rain-fed plateaus of the south and west.
Buffaloes and meat production: a growing role
While most Indian farmers keep buffaloes primarily for milk, the buffalo is technically a dual-purpose animal with considerable meat potential. The meat derived from water buffaloes is commercially known as carabeef, and it forms the backbone of India’s bovine meat industry.
India is the world’s largest producer of carabeef, a meat derived from the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), and carabeef is one of India’s largest agricultural exports. The numbers are substantial: approximately 1.29 million metric tons of buffalo meat products worth around US$3.74 billion were exported by India in 2023-2024. Buffalo meat dominated India’s animal product exports, contributing over 79.56% of total animal product exports in 2021-22.
Why buffalo meat and not cattle beef?
India’s export of buffalo meat – rather than cattle beef – is directly shaped by the country’s legal and cultural framework. India’s Foreign Trade Policy forbids the export of beef, which includes meat from cows, oxen, and calves. Cattle slaughter is either banned or heavily restricted in most Indian states, partly due to constitutional guidance and partly due to the cultural and religious significance of the cow in Hinduism. Buffaloes, however, do not carry the same legal restrictions at the national level, and their slaughter is regulated at the state level with varying degrees of permissibility.
Indian trade regulations do not permit exports of cattle meat, nor exports of buffalo meat from breeding or milking animals. Buffalo slaughtered for export are reported to be primarily culled dairy animals, as well as male calves and culled draft animals. All Indian exports of buffalo meat must be in the form of deboned meat rather than carcasses, and exports are primarily in the form of frozen, rather than chilled, boxed beef.
This policy distinction has given India a structural advantage in the global carabeef market. Global demand for India’s relatively low-cost water buffalo meat is strong, particularly among low- and middle-income countries in Asia and the Middle East. Key importing nations include Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, and Iraq, which have remained top importers over the past five to six years.
The male calf problem: an underutilised resource
One of the most significant – and often overlooked – aspects of India’s buffalo meat sector is the fate of male calves. Because buffaloes are kept almost exclusively for milk production, male calves are considered economically unproductive from the moment of birth. Farmers who cannot afford to feed them often let them starve or abandon them, resulting in enormous losses of potential livestock.
Male water buffalo are traditionally of lower utility and value than female buffalo. Some are used as draft animals and are actually favoured for this purpose in some areas of India, but they are not generally reared and fed for meat purposes. A large share of male calves – estimated at about 70% – are lost to mortality.
If producers or processors respond to the commercial opportunity now afforded by the export market by rearing more male buffalo calves and increasing feeding to boost low slaughter weights, production and export growth may be sustained. This is not merely a theoretical possibility – it is a policy lever that has already been acknowledged by the government. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Scheme for Salvaging and Rearing of Male Buffalo Calves aimed to increase the use of previously unwanted male dairy buffalo for meat and hides. However, the USDA Economic Research Service noted that the project had reportedly not had a noticeable impact.
The challenge is structural. Rearing, feeding, and selling buffalo for meat production is not typically a planned farm business but a residual activity. Because of this, India lacks a systematic linkage between the sellers of animals, traders, and processors to facilitate supply responsiveness. Until this changes, a large portion of India’s latent buffalo meat production potential will remain unrealised.
Challenges and the road ahead
Despite impressive export figures, India’s buffalo meat sector faces real headwinds. Market sources note that the supply of raw materials is lower than in previous years, resulting in reduced export quantities. Buffalo availability is largely seasonal, as farmers typically sell buffalo only after they cease milking, usually after the rainy season.
Breed conservation is another concern. India’s rich repository of buffalo genetic resources is progressively being eroded due to unplanned breeding, and there exists no breed registration system or breed improvement societies to register animals of specific breeds and maintain herd books. Protecting genetic diversity in buffalo breeds is essential not only for milk production but also for sustaining the quality of meat animals over the long term.
On the demand side, carabeef remains the most affordable and nutrition-filled red meat available today in India, and accelerating disposable income and fast-paced urbanisation are expected to drive domestic consumption higher – adding yet another variable to the already complex supply equation.
From a relatively modest count of under 90 million in the late 1990s to over 109 million today, and with projections pointing toward 126 million by 2031, India’s buffalo population has grown steadily – and so has its strategic importance. The buffalo is no longer just a dairy animal; it sits at the heart of one of the world’s most consequential meat export industries. Whether India can fully unlock that potential – by rearing male calves more systematically, strengthening breed conservation, and building a more responsive supply chain – will determine the trajectory of its carabeef sector for decades to come.
What do you think? Given that a large proportion of male buffalo calves are currently lost to starvation or neglect, what practical incentives could encourage small-scale farmers to rear them for meat production instead? And as India’s buffalo herd continues to grow, should meat production be actively integrated into buffalo farming policy alongside dairy, or should the two remain separate?
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