Animal assets
• India's 68 million draught animals carry more than five times the freight and four times the passenger traffic carried by railways, in terms of originating traffic
• Draught animal power contributes 27,000 megawatt of power
• It saves 24 million tonnes of diesel per year, worth more than Rs 33,000 crore
• Draught animals cultivate about 65 per cent of India's total cultivated area
• The present value of draught animals (Rs 12,000 per pair) is Rs 40,800 crore
• It would take 6.8 million tractors to replace draught animal power. This would cost Rs 23,800 crore
• Draught animals provide dung worth Rs 5,000 crore annually. Five million tonnes of firewood will be needed as substitute. Then, there are the costs of producing organic fertiliser for speedily depleting soils
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