Govt plans cow circuit to boost tourism

AHMEDABAD: The Union government is exploring a new tourism opportunity — a cow circuit. To promote cow-based tourism economy, the newly formed Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog has decided to carve out a route that will wind through places in the country which breed indigenous cows.

The board has identified states like Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa for this circuit.

Tourists, especially from foreign countries, students and researchers will be told about Indian cows, which will also help them in research, said Kamdhenu Board chairman Vallabh Kathiria.

“We have so far focussed on religious, recreational and adventurous tourism, but if we can link our cow tourism with tourist hotspots, we will be able to promote our indigenous breeds like Gir from Gujarat, Gangatiri from UP or Ongole from Andhra Pradesh,” Kathiria told TOI during his recent visit to Ahmedabad.

He said this will also help in promoting cow-based economy as products made from cow ghee, cow urine and cow dung will be sold at tourist places. The importance of indigenous cows will also be propagated to attract researchers to explore market in this untouched sector.

“We can run such centres at Somnath temple, Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi, jails like Sabarmati Central Jail, Yerwada in Pune, and Tihar Jail in Delhi, along with spas and Ayurvedic healing centres in Kerala and tourist places in Goa,” he said.

“We will establish over 400 such cow tourism centres across the country, which will begin with an initial investment of around Rs 2 crore per center with public private partnership,” he added.

Kathiria said religious organisations, private firms and NGOs have shown preparedness to join this initiative.