Data on livestock population in India since 1951 have been summarized. Changes in livestock's contribution to income from agriculture and allied activities have been compared with growth in their numbers. Some facts to assess the validity of such comparisons have also been presented. A fairly comprehensive spatial and temporal analysis of the growth, composition, and distribution of the bovine population, and average productivity of milch cows and buffaloes has been used to raise issues on the past and current policies and programmes, and to discuss the alternatives.