New Delhi: From cow dung-derived electrodes to the chemical profiling of cow urine, researchers at a clutch of IITs have spent several years studying “cowpathy” and the properties of “indigenous cows.” Their work has been funded under the central government’s SUTRA-PIC programme, short for Scientific Utilization through Research Augmentation–Prime Products from Indigenous Cows.
Now, six years on, those projects are finally bearing fruit. An analysis by ThePrint of the papers produced so far shows findings that range from cow dung that cleans polluted water to a chemical profile of cow urine and its industrial uses.
Launched in April 2020 by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, SUTRA-PIC was the first grant of its kind dedicated specifically to research on Indian cows. It came with an approved outlay of Rs 98 crore, meant to fund work on indigenous cows and cow-derived products for healthcare, agriculture, and nutrition.
A total of 10 projects were sanctioned under the programme, of which four were led by IIT researchers — two from IIT-BHU, one from IIT (ISM) Dhanbad and one from IIT Kanpur. The others were conducted by institutions such as the National Forensic Sciences University and ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cattle.
ThePrint reached out to the Ministry of Science and Technology via email and phone calls for details on the projects and utilisation of the funds, but did not receive a response.
At the time of SUTRA-PIC’s launch, the ministry received flak from some scientists for sharing a broad-based proposal that they warned could lead to “poorly designed” research papers.
The underlying premise was laid out in the original DST document: “Indian cows are believed to possess certain qualities and characteristics. It is well known perception that Desi cow can remain healthy and can survive well in local environment. Many properties of desi cows need detailed scientific investigation.”
Researchers say they approached the challenge with the same rigour as any other scientific project.
“The benefits of cow products are already prescribed and documented in the Vedas. We’re just applying a modern approach to it, using science to validate,” said one of the IIT scientists who received a DST grant, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Here’s a look at some of the key findings.
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Cow urine for industry
At IIT-BHU, Abhishek S Dhoble, a professor in the School of Biochemical Engineering, has published multiple papers with support from a Rs 31 lakh SUTRA-PIC grant. In line with the DST’s call for proposals, his scientific research focuses on producing better quality products and byproducts from cows — namely, milk, dung, and urine.
“Cattle dung and urine have great significance, and a balanced nutritional diet (for cows) may be a key to improved quality of these products/by-products,” reads one of his papers in the journal Tropical Animal Health and Production.
But the most notable study led by Dhoble under this grant was published in the July 2025 edition of the journal Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.
Titled “Metabolomic Profiling of Cow Urine of Various Breeds Reveals Bioactive Metabolites of Diverse Industrial Applications”, the study said it delineated, for the first time, the comparative metabolite profile of cow urine among different breeds. The researchers ran mass spectrometry on urine from eight breeds — seven indigenous and one exotic — and found bioactive compounds with possible industrial uses.
The study found compounds such as phenol, cresol and esters, as well as toxicants such as xylene and formamide in cow urine.
“The identified compounds are known for their diverse industrial and pharmaceutical applications, including use in disinfectants, flavorings, cosmetics, and agrochemicals as well as metabolic engineering,” the study said.
One of SUTRA-PIC’s stated objectives is developing products from cows for medicine and health, but this study did not address whether the presence of these toxicants was harmful if consumed.
“Cow urine and its distillate is being used by Ayurveda practitioners throughout the country,” read the DST proposal. “The ancient Ayurvedic literature … suggests pharmacological applications of cow products … in treating cancer, dysentery, diarrhoea, blood pressure, asthma.”
A previous study by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, notably, found that urine samples from healthy cows contained at least 14 types of harmful bacteria.
Cow dung for cleaner water and electrodes
At IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, professor Brijesh Kumar Mishra and his team studied cow dung-derived material as a way to remove toxic heavy metals from water. Mishra was allotted Rs 36 lakh under SUTRA-PIC for the project, carried out jointly by the departments of environmental engineering and chemistry and chemical biology.
A paper from the project, scheduled to appear in the August edition of the Biochemical Engineering Journal, explores how cow dung, a readily available carbon-rich material, can be activated and used as an adsorbent (a material that traps contaminants on its surface) to remove toxic chromium from polluted water.
Once the material had trapped the chromium, the researchers found it could be reused as an electrode for energy storage devices.
“By converting two waste streams, i.e., cow dung and industrial Cr(VI), into cutting-edge materials for environmental and energy applications, this integrated pathway not only reduces waste and pollution but also exemplifies resource recovery, in line with the circular economy and green chemistry principles,” says the abstract.
The paper does not explicitly focus on “indigenous cows”, instead treating cow dung itself as the material under study.
Cow manure against corrosion
At IIT Kanpur, Professor Kallol Mondal received a Rs 58 lakh SUTRA-PIC grant to develop environment-friendly corrosion inhibitors from cow manure and test their ability to protect reinforced steel used in concrete.
A paper by Mondal and other researchers, published in June 2024 in Bioresource Technology Reports, found that cattle manure extract could work as a low-cost, eco-friendly corrosion inhibitor for mild steel. The study said compounds in the manure formed a protective layer on the metal, helping slow down corrosion.
The research team planned to test the laboratory findings at an industrial scale, according to Shaastra, a science and technology magazine published by IIT Madras.
#NewsFeature
A research team led by Prof. Kallol Mondal, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, study the possibilities of Cow dung being a green option to battle the bane of metal corrosion.https://t.co/KUBXsQ6OEU#sustainability #NetZero #circulareconomy #IITKanpur… pic.twitter.com/2WdbGOX2dj
— IIT Kanpur (@IITKanpur) July 18, 2024
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Panchgavya under the microscope
Some research projects sanctioned by SUTRA-PIC are still in the final stages of writing and have not been published yet.
One at IIT-BHU is looking at the “anti-infective” potential of panchgavya — a mixture of cow milk, curd, ghee, urine and dung. Professor Shreyans Kumar Jain received a Rs 65 lakh grant for the project.
There is already research on the “immune-enhancing properties” of panchgavya by scholars from the ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, but Jain is studying it through metabolomics — the analysis of organic chemical molecules using mass spectrometry.
“We’ve used samples from cows near the campus, with the help of veterinarians to identify the breed of the cows,” said Jain.
His paper and a related patent are not yet ready, and he has sought a six-month extension to submit the work. He said there will be enough journals willing to publish the study, given the validity of the data.
SUTRA-PIC also funded another panchgavya project outside the IITs. Jayrajsinh Sarwaiya, a researcher at the National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar, was allotted a Rs 42 lakh grant to develop a protocol to identify “genuine” panchgavya products.
In April, the Gangotri temple in Uttarakhand announced that consuming panchgavya would be mandatory before entering the temple, calling it the “ultimate form of purification” in Hindu tradition.
Cow research is becoming a burgeoning research area in India, and not just under SUTRA-PIC. A 2024 paper by an IIT Madras researcher developed a “novel approach” to a cow dung-based herbal mosquito repellent, while IIT Guwahati hosted a “National Conference on Gau Vigyan in Modern Life and Medical Science” in 2023.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)