INDIA, June 14, 2016 (Huffington Post): When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the UAE, our very own desi chef Sanjeev Kapoor cooked up an authentic Gujarati pure vegetarian meal for him. More recently, when the Prime Minister was on a visit to Mexico, President Enrique Pena Nieto personally drove him to a local restaurant for a Mexican vegetarian dinner. The world believes that India is a predominantly vegetarian country and this belief would have only been strengthened by our Prime Minister, who seems to make sure that his frequent foreign jaunts do not in any way disturb his vegetarian food regimen.
Vegetarianism, it is often assumed is the norm in India. However, a nationwide survey, conducted by the Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner, reveals otherwise. According to the sample registration system (SRS) baseline survey 2014 released by the registrar general of India, 71 percent of Indians [of all religioins] over the age of 15 are non-vegetarian. The percentage of non-vegetarians across the country however has dropped from 75 percent in 2004.
[HPI adds: The report is in terms of “all Indians,” which is misleading in that nearly all of the 20% of Indians who are not Hindus are likely to be meateaters. What’s also missing from this report is how little meat Indians eat compared to Westerners. The USA tops the world in meat consumption at 120.2 lbs per person per year, followed by Australia at 115. lbs per person. By comparison, India’s meat consumption is 4.4 lbs per person per year. The only country on the list that eats less meat than India is Bangladesh at 4 lbs per person.]
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_meat_consumption#Countries_by_meat_consumption_.28per_capita_meat_carcass_mass_availability.29