The crackdown on slaughter houses and the indefinite strike has affected lives of meat sellers.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's policies on abattoirs will have a "decisive impact" on meat exports as the state accounts for half of total exports, says a report.
"Uttar Pradesh contributes to about half of the country's buffalo meat exports and the state is in the process of framing a policy on illegal slaughter houses and mechanised abattoirs," ratings company CRISIL said in a report today.
"The policy will have a decisive impact on the sector's outlook and growth prospects... policies remain the key monitorable for credit outlook," it added.
One of the first executive orders of Yogi Adityanath was to shut illegal abattoirs after taking oath mid-March.
In fiscal 2016, the earnings from meat exports stood at Rs 26,682 crore and had grown at 29 per cent every year. In fact in the decade to fiscal 2016, exports were clipping at 29 per cent.
It said Russia and China are two important markets presenting exciting opportunity for Indian meat, but quickly added that "government's focus on promoting this category of exports remains to be seen".
After two years of handsome growth, the revenue from buffalo meat exports de-grew by 8.9 per cent in 2015-16, it said, adding they had grown by 52 per cent and 10.7 per cent in FY14 and FY15, respectively.
Between April 2016 and January 2017, exports de-grew 2.4 per cent in volume terms because of competition and the impact of demonetisation on meat procurement, it said.
In calender 2014, India overtook Brazil as the world's largest meat exporter.
According to an August 2016 Icra report, buffalo meat exports grew at a CAGR 29 per cent, from Rs 3,533 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 26,682 crore in 2015-16 and is slated to touch Rs 40,000 crore by by 2021.
Currently India accounts for 20 per cent of the world's buffalo meat and beef export volume. In the last two years, buffalo meat was the country's largest grossing farm export item contributing 1.56 per cent to export revenues. Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest share of buffalo population at 28 per cent and is the leading meat producer with 60 per cent of slaughter houses and meat processing units in the country.
As per the Livestock Census reports, between 2007 and 2012, buffalo numbers rose 3.2 per cent, from 105.3 million to 108.7 million, while overall cattle population declined by 4.1 per cent, from 199 million to 191 million.