A week after Bombay High Court upheld the ban on slaughter of bulls in Maharashtra, industrialist Adi Godrej, who is the chairman of $4.1-billion Godrej Group, said that beef ban and liquor prohibition in some states of the country is hurting the Indian economy.

Stressing the importance of having an easy business-friendly environment, Godrej told Indian Express, “Some of the things are affecting growth, for example, the ban on beef in some states. (This) is clearly affecting agriculture, affecting rural growth. Because what do you do with all these extra cows? It is also affecting business, because this was a good source of income for many farmers. So that’s a negative.”
He added that Vedic Indians were beef eaters and there is nothing wrong in the consumption of beef.

alcohol prohibition in states like Kerala and Bihar, Godrej also said that prohibition is not only bad for the economy but also gives rise to bad liquor and mafia. In November 2015, when Bihar Chief Minister had announced total liquor ban from April 2016, it was estimated that the industry could face a loss of Rs 4,000 crore annually.
With his comments, Adi Godrej became to the first industrialist to speak against beef ban. And his remarks has invited mixed reactions on Twitter.
Adi Godrej says #beef ban and prohibition are hurting #economy. Let’s see if this gives others courage to speak out. https://t.co/6sKFnpT4xq
— Rajat Ubhaykar (@rajatub) May 12, 2016
Fully agree with Adi Godrej.. #beef ban #liquor ban are non issues..Why waste energy in this…Please deal with issues like.. #drought
— Hello (@Readacross) May 12, 2016
Adi Godrej says beef ban and alcohol ban hurting economy…
Mr. Godrej obviously doesn’t deal in black market, flourishing with these bans— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) May 12, 2016
Others have been critical:
Hey Adi Godrej, Cow is sacred since Vedic times; get urself a better script writer!
Fact: Tightening screw on Crony Capitalism hurts many.— Mihir Jha (@MihirkJha) May 12, 2016
Dear Adi Godrej, you’re wrong. There was no ‘Vedic beef-eating’. Here’s what Vedas say on killing cows #Beefban… https://t.co/5B4SpjJ3qO
— Dipin Damodharan (@dipinbharath) May 12, 2016
And there were some interesting sarcastic comments:
Adi Godrej will now be asked to go to Pakistan.
— lindsay pereira (@lindsaypereira) May 12, 2016
Adi Godrej manages to anger pious right & priggish left (Nitish) with one comment. BTW, is he now an anti-national?https://t.co/ZaDmlh0Zfj
— Kumar Rakesh (@kumar_1402) May 12, 2016
Adi Godrej ; Beef Ban hurting Economy
BJP Gang ; Preparing Another Anti National Certificate or Pakistan Visahttps://t.co/t3DsjrhfGE— Aarti (@aartic02) May 12, 2016
(With inputs from PTI)
(Feature image source: Reuters)