New Delhi, Apr 16 (KNN) Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) has demanded the opening of meat export production units as overseas demands have surged.

“Opening of banks and allied support such as customs offices and logistics, warehousing and cargo support will help the exporters to ship goods smoothly. Also, the farmers and marginal workers will get the money in this distress time which is crucial for their livelihood,'' TPCI Chairman Mohit Singla said.

“The government should also consider opening the animal husbandry sector fully as huge demand for meat products are arising from overseas markets including, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt and China.

He asserted that states like Uttar Pradesh which has a large number of meat factories should allow production and livestock trading facilities.

''India has a very rich pool of livestock and it can thrust the exports and reinforce its presence in crucial markets within a short time,” he added.

“We should focus on non- basmati exports on government to government (G2G) sales to maintain India’s strong foothold on the export market and utilize the surplus stock for export proceeds,” Singla suggested.

There is a huge demand for non- basmati rice from African, Europeans and Asian countries, he added

Trade data released yesterday, clearly shows how Covid-19 pulled down India's exports by 34.6 per cent in March, 29 of 30 items each in export and import baskets is seen adversely impacted. The total rice exports in FY 2019-2020 remained at 6.5 billion USD and meat and preparation exports remained billion 3.25 USD in the same period (FY19-20)