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Amidst growing violence and hate campaigns by the Right-Wing ecosystem against sale and consumption of beef, a prominent meat exporter in the country made generous donations to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last financial year.
As per a report by the Scroll, Allana Group donated Rs 30 crore to the BJP, a 15-fold increase from its previous donations. The report is based on the disclosure filed by political parties with the Election Commission. The contributions were made through Allanasons Private Limited,
Frigorifico Allana Private Limited, Indagro Foods Private Limited and Frigerio Conserva Allana Limited, the firms which come under Allana Group. The 160-year-old Allana Group is the top exporter of buffalo meat in the country.
As per the information available with the Ministry of Commerce and industry, 40% of the meat is produced in Uttar Pradesh, a state where cow vigilante groups are actively targeting sale and consumption of cattle. Maharashtra (12 %), Andhra Pradesh (8.83), Telangana (8.53) and Kerala (8 %) follow UP in meat production. Last year alone, India exported 1,254,775.31 metric tons of buffalo meat.
Cow vigilante groups are active in UP and Maharashtra where the prominent meat processing units of Allana Group are located.
In 2019, the Income Tax department alleged a tax fraud of Rs 2000 crore by the Allana Group. As per the report, the Group began purchasing electoral bonds after this. Of the Rs 7 crore bond purchased in 2019, Rs 5 crore was donated to Shiv Sena and rest to the BJP. The BJP-Shiv Sena coalition was in charge of municipal and state machinery in Mumbai and Maharashtra at that time, the report said.
Compared to Rs 30 crore in 2024-25, the Allana Group’s donation to BJP was mere Rs 2 crore in 2023-24.
As per the report, there has been a boost in the revenue of Allana Group, especially due to an active support of the Modi government. The India meat industry had faced a setback in 2019 after China acted tough on food smuggling through Vietnam. Vietnam was one of the major markets of Indian beef back then. Following this, companies like Allana began focusing on Islamic countries. The Modi government actively facilitated meat exporters like Allana for its trade with countries like Egypt, Turkey and Singapore. In 2023, it went a step further by framing guidelines to provide halal certification to meat exports. After a period of slump, Allana Group saw a sharp increase in its revenue from 2021. Its revenue touched an all time high of Rs 10,320 crores in 2024-25.