Only illegal slaughter houses shut in UP: Minister

New Delhi, March 27 : Only illegal slaughter houses are being shut in Uttar Pradesh and there cannot be a difference of opinion that they should be shut, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.

During Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the export of buffalo meat had gone down and China was not allowing the import of Indian buffalo meat.

Replying to the supplementary question, Sitharaman said: "What is being done in Uttar Pradesh is about illegal slaughter houses. I think even the honourable member would not want illegal slaughter houses to function.

"The Chief Minister (Adityanath Yogi) has been clear (that) he is talking about illegal slaughter houses. There cannot be a difference of opinion here," she said.

About China not allowing import of Indian buffalo meat, the minister said there were many other goods as well for which the Chinese market was not accessible.

He said the central government was in talks with Beijing on this.

The minister also denied that demonetisation had any affect on exports.

Responding to a question by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Sitharaman said the decline in export had been visible for the last few years due to the global economic situation.

"Decline in export happened during 2014-15, 2015-16. If you look at month on month export data, the position is improving.

"The impact of demonetisation is not found on exports," the minister said, adding the decline had been there for some years, much before the November 8 note ban.