Assam is conducting a census of rhino horns that have been recovered from dead rhinos.
The newly-elected BJP government in Assam is carrying out a first of its kind census of rhino horns stored in various government treasuries of Assam.
The purpose of the census is prepare an inventory and to find out whether the rhino horns are genuine.
But it's the next step that is proving to be tricky. What should the government do with these horns?
"I will take opinions from public, the cabinet and the chief minister," said Pramila Rani Bramha, Assam's Forest Minister.
Most of the horns that are being counted are of rhinos that died a natural death. Some were also recovered from poachers that have targeted the famed one-horn rhinos of Assam.
A one-kilogram rhino horn fetches about Rs 1 crore in the international grey market, especially for their medicinal properties.
That's why since 1980, government records show that 710 rhinos have been killed by poachers in the Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site.
This year, 14 rhinos have been poached for their horns in Assam's Kaziranga.
This year alone, 14 rhinos have been poached including one during the visit of the British Royal couple Prince William and Kate.
To send a strong signal to countries where illegal wildlife products find a market, the Congress Government in 2010 had proposed to publicly burn the rhino horns.
But the move was strongly opposed by the people of the state and a public interest litigation was filed at the Gauhati High Court.
In April, Kenya, that witnessed large scale poaching of its wild elephants for their tusks and rhinos for their horns, publically burnt the largest haul of ivory and rhino horns.
But the issue of burning rhino horns is a sensitive one in Assam. "The government will take the necessary action," says Bibhav Talukdar, an environmentalist and a member of the expert committee that's counting the horns.
More than 1,000 rhino horns have been counted and the process is expected to be over in the next two months. Then the government plans to conduct public hearings to decide the course of action.