Government To Invest Rs 50,000 Crore In Fisheries Sector In Next Five Years To Boost Production, Export

The government on Tuesday (17 March) informed the Lok Sabha that it will invest Rs 50,000 crore in the fisheries sector in the next five years in a bid to boost the production, productivity and export, reports Times of India.

According to the report, in response to a question in the Lower House, Union Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh said the government was trying to reduce the post-harvest loss in the fisheries from current 20 per cent to 10 per cent (of total production) in next few years with the help of setting up proposed infrastructure.

Singh said the government, under the plan to invest Rs 50,000 crore in the sector, had already sanctioned 191 ice plants, 112 ice plants-cum-cold storages and 206 refrigerated insulated trucks among other infrastructural facilities to deal with the issue of the post-harvest loss.

As per the report, the post-harvest loss in the fisheries is around Rs 61,000 crore, more than the amount of India’s Rs 46,489 crore annual export from this sector.

The total fish production in the country stood at around 13.42 million metric tonnes during 2018-19. Of this, the marine fisheries contributed 3.71 million metric tonnes. However, nearly 20 per cent of the total production is lost after harvest.

Singh said that the post-harvest loss, which was earlier pegged at 30 per cent of the total production five years ago, has been reduced to 20 per cent and would further be reduced to 10 per cent in the coming years.