Producers think this will help the poultry industry to get cheaper raw material and reduce its cost of production, which is three times the cost of production of US chicken legs, reports the Economic Times.

As India lost its World Trade Organisation battle against the import of US chicken legs, the poultry industry expects to see the impact of the ruling in 12 to 18 months.

"The cost of processed chicken in India is $3/kg while the cost of the imported chicken leg from the US will be $1/kg," said Amit Saraogi, chairman of the feed manufacturer's organisation CLMFA of India.

The cost of Indian soybean meal is higher than the global soybean meal because productivity is much lower there than the productivity of countries like the US, which have genetically modified soybeans.

The Indian poultry industry, which is growing at 7 per cent to 8 per cent per annum, is worth Rs 80,000 crore (800 billion), 65 per cent of which is poultry meat while 35 per cent is accounted for by eggs.

Chicken breast is considered as the premium product in the US and chicken legs are considered just a by product. However, chicken legs are the main product for Indian market.

Representatives of the corn industry also expressed a need to import raw feed material.