KATHMANDU: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has revealed that he drinks cow urine daily — he revealed to British television adventurer Bear Grylls that he consumes it for ayurvedic reasons.

According to AFP, Kumar is considered a staunch supporter of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, which has earmarked millions of dollars for research into products using bovine waste to cure diseases like diabetes and cancer.

There is no comprehensive scientific evidence of any medicinal benefits, but several politicians from Modi's right-wing ruling party have advocated using the dung and urine to cure coronavirus, AFP adds.

Kumar was promoting his appearance on a show with British television adventurer Bear Grylls, in which they drink tea made from elephant dung in an Indian tiger reserve.

"I was too excited to be worried. I have cow urine because of ayurvedic reasons every day, so that was okay," Kumar said on a social media live chat posted on September 10, according to AFP.

Modi's government created a ministry of ayurveda and yoga, with Modi suggesting in June that yoga could help create a "protective shield" against the novel coronavirus.