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You can soon enjoy your pomfret varuval without being gaslit about killing the poor fish. A research project to develop lab-grown fish meat has started in Kerala, home to some of the most delectable seafood.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) have teamed to produce cultivated fish meat or lab grown fish meat. The process involves isolating specific cells from the fish and growing them in the laboratory. The final product captures the flavour, texture and nutritional qualities of the fish.

Lab-grown meat is taking quick strides in Singapore, Israel, and the US. In India, it is nascent and there is still no product out there in the market.

India, however, has seen a number of plant-based meat startups lately like GoodDot, Imagine Meats, Wakao Foods, Greenest Foods, and Eva Foods.

Plant-based meat, also called mock meat or imitation meat, is designed to look and taste similar to traditional meat, but is made entirely from plant-based proteins like soy, pea, wheat gluten, mycoprotein (from fungus), or even jackfruit, along with fats, starches, and flavours to mimic the taste and texture of meat.

But here is the problem.

The plant-based product may give vegetarians the texture and feel of meat, but it will never quite taste like meat for non-vegetarians. So, while it gives vegetarians a guilt-free food option, non-vegetarians are unlikely to fully adopt it.

Bharat’s philosophical ethos always encourages kindness over cruelty. So, if the aim is to go slaughter-free in the future, non-vegetarians will have to be weaned off the butcher’s shop with meat that tastes and feels exactly the same, and not just provide vegetarians with the additional plant-meat option.

The only way to do that is to encourage mass production of lab or cultured meat, besides creating a licensing and regulatory framework. The Narendra Modi government could seriously consider big incentives for cultured meat research and production.

Cultured meat is genuine animal meat, including seafood, which is produced by directly cultivating animal cells. It eliminates the need to raise, farm, and slaughter animals.

National Family Health Survey 5 by India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare shows close to 77 per cent of India’s population eats fish, chicken and other meat. Also, 83 per cent of Indian men and 71 per cent of women are non-vegetarians.

Chicken is the most sought-after meat by Indians, with around 3.96 million tonnes of chicken consumed in the country in 2020 alone, according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development data. It is followed by buffalo, sheep and pork meat.

A report by the Vasudha and Shakti foundations shows India’s cattle cause an annual emission of over 200 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Animal advocacy organisation Humane Society International India and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad joined hands in 2019 to advance ‘clean’ meat technologies and connect regulators with start-ups.

Singapore was the first to clear the sale of lab-grown meat for consumption in December 2020. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the sale of cultivated chicken from two California-based companies. Israel gave its first regulatory nod for the sale of lab-grown beef in January 2024. The Netherlands was one of the first to develop a lab-grown beef patty in 2013.

Bharat has enough spiritual, ethical, environmental, and economic reasons to give cultured meat a serious policy push. The time for this idea has come, and India can lead the world in slaughter-free lab meat.

Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.