India’s leading beef exporter donated Rs 30 cr to BJP through electoral bonds

The beef industry, which is a constant target of Hindutva groups, has reportedly grown under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, with India’s top exporter of buffalo meat, Allana group, donating a whopping Rs 30 crore to the right-wing party in 2024-25, according to a report by Scroll.in.

The massive donation by the company, headed by Irfan Allana, coincided with India’s beef exports crossing USD 4 billion in 2025, a record high since 2018, Scroll.in reported

In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of promoting “pink revolution” and aiding cattle slaughter.

“Across the countryside, our animals are getting slaughtered. Across India, too, there are massive slaughterhouses in operation,” he had said. Even though right-wing organisations influenced by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP have often taken extreme steps to “protect” cows from being slaughtered, India has simultaneously earned major profits from the industry.

The relationship between the meat industry and the government transformed after Modi came to power in 2014.

Allana Group’s supply chains were severely hit in states like Uttar Pradesh, where the company runs major operating units, since Hindutva vigilantes constantly attacked meat traders on suspicion of transporting beef, with Muslim men often targeted.

In 2019, the Income Tax Department conducted raids at more than 100 locations linked to the group. By April, officials alleged that the company had evaded taxes worth nearly Rs 2,000 crore.

Donations continued amid tax raids

Following the allegations, the group began buying electoral bonds. According to public data, they bought Rs 7 crore worth of bonds in 2019, donating Rs 5 crore to Shiv Sena and Rs 2 crore to the BJP.

At the time, the Shiv Sena and the BJP controlled both the municipal and state administrations in Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Before Narendra Modi was elected as Prime Minister, the Allana group had made direct financial support to the BJP. It donated Rs 2 crore in the period of 2013-14 and Rs 50 lakh the next year. The group subsequently donated Rs 2 crore in electoral bonds in 2019. Again in 2023-24, Rs 2 crore was donated to the right-wing party through its firm Frigerio Conserva Allana Private Limited.

The donation in 2024-25 increased 15 times to Rs 30 crore. The money was donated through four primary firms – Allanasons Private Limited, Frigerio Conserva Allana Private Limited, Frigorifico Allana Private Limited and Indagro Foods Private Limited.

During the 2019 donations, the company was facing peak scrutiny from tax authorities, and the contributions appeared to be made in that context. In contrast, the Rs 30 crore donation in 2024–25 seems to reflect a period of business expansion.

Expansion in other countries

India is the world’s third-largest player in the beef industry. However, the industry took a blow in 2019 during China’s clampdown on illegal meat trade, which was focused on its border with Southeast Asia. Indian beef then flowed from Vietnam into China, which ultimately decreased its beef exports by 60 per cent.

To offset the loss, companies like Allana would look for new markets, specifically in Islamic countries. After Egypt and Malaysia began buying more Indian beef, exports to those countries have since doubled in 2024-25.

Egypt is now India’s second-largest market for beef exports. In July 2024, the country also announced that it would open an office in India to monitor the halal standards of the meat it imports. The Allanasons Private Limited began to improve financially after its decline between 2017 and 2021. The company’s revenue has grown consecutively every year, even reaching Rs 10,320 crore in 2024-25, according to the filings of Registrar of Companies, Scroll.in reported.

Its growth can be viewed in parallel with the rise in India’s beef exports.

To answer why a company whose business is often persecuted by the ruling party was donating to the very party, Fauzan Alavi, executive director of the Allana Group, told Scroll.in that “positive transformations” were taking place under the BJP government for “sustainable growth.” Allana Group has endeavoured to contribute positively towards the further development and growth of a Viksit Bharat, he said.

Despite the strong national rhetoric against beef, Modi has extensively facilitated the industry’s growth. In January 2023, India reportedly urged Indonesia to increase imports of Indian buffalo meat, though the country’s response remained unenthusiastic. That same month, authorities issued guidelines to enable halal certification for meat exports, which were enforced in October 2024. The policy was aimed at targeting markets in West Asia, Turkey and Singapore.

To the company’s executive director, the government’s “rationalising” of income tax rates and simplifying the tax framework was “commendable.”

“The Allana Group takes great pride in being part of the significant growth trajectory initiated by the central government,” he said, applauding the government’s trade diplomacy and the “commencement of numerous Free Trade Agreements.”