By Carolyn Webb
An Australian company is set to provide a high-tech solution to an ancient problem – what to do with the millions of sacred cows wandering India’s streets.
The company’s head, Dan Drum, is in final negotiations to help round up and manage wandering cattle in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Melbourne company Hardcat, headed by Dan Drum, is set to help round up wandering cows in India.Credit: Chris Hopkins
A 2019 livestock census counted 1.18 million stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh in 2019. Across India, there are an estimated five million, causing accidents and destroying crops.
When Drum, chief executive of Melbourne-based asset management technology company Hardcat, visited India’s capital, New Delhi, 18 months ago, he saw cows walking and lying among traffic.
“Initially, you go ‘wow’,” he said. “They’re everywhere. People are used to it, drivers drive around them. But it’s a very big problem.”
A cow wandering among traffic in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.Credit: Alamy Stock Photo
Trials for the Animal Tagging and Asset Management System, a venture between Hardcat and two Indian companies, are due to start before the end of 2024. Under the six-month trial, for which Hardcat is supplying software, collars will be put around the necks of 20,000 stray cows in Uttar Pradesh.
Each collar will contain a solar-powered GPS tracker and a device to monitor heart rate, food consumption and temperature. The cattle can later be located and taken to shelters, called gaushalas, where their manure and urine may be used for industry.
The Uttar Pradesh government plans to build a 50-hectare cow sanctuary.
A cow resting in the street in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.Credit: Getty Images
The Hindu religion, practised by 80 per cent of Indians, forbids the slaughter of cows and consumption of beef.
Sutharsan Kurukal, a priest at Shri Shiva Vishnu temple in Carrum Downs, south-east of Melbourne, says cow milk, urine and dung all have uses. They are used in rituals to summon energy, and to protect people from sin and diseases. The goddess Kamadhenu is worshipped as the mother of all cows.
Drum said the cattle management program would be “revolutionary” if it succeeds. While households keep female cows for milk, male and older female cattle are set free. Hardcat is set to reap 50 cents to $1 per cow it tracks per year, so if the program were duplicated across India it would earn his company millions of dollars.
It is the most unusual enterprise for Hardcat, founded in 1981, which has offices in Johannesburg and London and its headquarters in South Melbourne.
The company has previously won contracts to digitise and keep track of police, military and company assets, including weapons, computers, furniture, vehicles and artworks.
Clients include most of Australia’s police forces and Britain’s Royal Navy. Having set up in India 18 months ago, and partnered with locals, Hardcat is discussing deals with 32 prospective clients, six of them state police forces.
In Goa state in western India, Hardcat is negotiating to provide an accreditation system for tourism accommodation and activities. Of the cattle project, Drum says it will be courageous, but also “just another project” in asset management.
“We don’t have to do anything to our system. We are offering a platform that is proven,” he said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.