In a McDonald’s in Calcutta, plenty of youngsters are tucking into their Big Macs. But customers in India are about to experience a first: a meatless McDonald’s.

“I am a little surprised,” said Mudar Patherya of Trysis, a dedicated annual reports consultancy. He said it could be a shrewd business decision for the company, as many Hindu and Sikh temples are in meat-free zones and religious tourism in those areas is booming. “I think they should have come in and hit the ground running with vegetarian restaurants. I mean 1.2 billion people out of which 60 percent are vegetarian or 50 percent are vegetarian.”

For a company that is known globally for its meat dishes, it’s a bold move. But India — with its fast-growing, cash-rich middle class — represents a great market for McDonald’s, which plans to double their number of restaurants here over the next three years.

And they will be hoping that their new veg outlets will remain busy.