Animal welfare in India received a strategic boost this week with the launch of the India Karuna Collaborative (IKC), a network of more than 50 organisations and 70 leaders from civil society, science, business and public health. The initiative aims to bring animal welfare—particularly industrial animal farming—to the centre of climate, public health and development conversations.The collaborative was launched at the Indian Merchants’ Chamber on Wednesday, drawing prominent figures from business, banking, fashion and science. Among those present were Harsh Mariwala, founder and chairman of Marico; fashion designer Anita Dongre; Motilal Oswal, founder and managing director of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited; Amala Akkineni, founder of Blue Cross of Hyderabad; and Gauri Maulekhi, trustee of People for Animals.Animal welfare is often framed within the narrow confines of ethics and compassion (karuna), overlooking the wider consequences of exploitative animal farming practices for public health, the environment and economic development. IKC seeks to foreground these intersectional risks.A report released by the collaborative—The Interconnected Crisis: Animal Welfare, Human Health, and Climate Change in India—notes that more than 1.5 billion farmed animals are embedded in India’s daily economic and food systems. Their cramped and often unsanitary conditions frequently remain unregulated and invisible, making it harder to connect these practices—from breeding and transport to slaughter—to their downstream impacts.Indian farmed animals contribute approximately 214.5 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions each year and account for 54.84% of the country’s agricultural methane output. On the public health front, about 70% of global antibiotics are used in animal agriculture, fuelling antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which could claim up to 10 million lives annually by 2050.At a panel discussion, Maulekhi of People for Animals said, “From antibiotic-laden feed for farmed animals to practices such as sewage-fed fish farming seen in parts of India, antibiotics are increasingly used to sustain industrial food production. While this system keeps costs low, the long-term price is far higher, accelerating antimicrobial resistance and the emergence of deadly superbugs.” The issue remains critically underexamined, she added.Mariwala called on businesses to build operational systems and supply chains that integrate animal care into the processes of production, consumption, regulation and innovation. “We need systems change; the private sector can help normalise alternatives,” he said.Also released at the event were the results of a YouGov survey of 3,000 Gen Z respondents on attitudes toward animal welfare. The findings showed that 69% of young dairy consumers and more than half of meat and egg consumers were willing to pay at least 10% more for products meeting higher animal welfare standards, while 53% said they were open to replacing some or all animal protein with plant-based alternatives—suggestive of a willingness to act in support of animals.Drawing on emerging science and field evidence, IKC plans to advocate for change across business practices, policy, regulation and consumer behaviour, positioning animal welfare as a cornerstone of the conversation.
