Andhra's new fishery policy to hit exports from Odisha

New fishery policy announced by Andhra Pradesh government is set to hit marine products exports from Odisha as it sources about 50% of raw stock from its neighbour

"The sops announced by the Andhra Pradesh government will definitely have a sizeable impact on seafood exports from the state. The subsidies promised by them is more industry friendly compared to the Odisha Fisheries Policy 2015," said Ajay Dash, president, Sea Food Exporters Association of India (SEAI) - Odisha region.

The new policy of Andhra Pradesh aims to discourage export of raw stock to other states and go for value addition within the state by expanding processing capacities. We should initiate steps to incorporate similar subsidies and incentives in Odisha fisheries policy in line with them (Andhra policy), he added.

Dash suggested provision of 50% subsidy in the state fishery policy for converting the existing processing units to value added plants to meet export demands.

"Else we will be a laggard among the exporting states and the raw material from Odisha will find their way to neighboring states with more advanced plants likely to come up there", he added. Odisha has about 24 processing plants out which six are only EU approved.

The state has allowed an interest subvention at fixed rate of 6% for setting up new acqua processing units for a period of five years. However, the subvention rate is not specified in the state policy. The policy in Odisha is also silent on interest rebate for the existing ones.

The Andhra Pradesh government promises interest subvention of 6% on bank loan subject to maximum of Rs.2.5 crore for a five year period to aqua processing units, ice plants and cold storages.

In 2014-15, Odisha produced 4.67 lakh tonnes of fish, an increase of 13% over the previous year. Similarly, the sea food export from the state went up by 26%. The sea food exports touched Rs 2,300 crore in the last fiscal.

As per the state policy, the export market potential for processed fish in terms of value will reach Rs 5000 crore by 2019-2020 and Rs 8,000 crore by 2020-2025.

"For inordinate delay in the implementation of the schemes in Odisha, the production level is not going up. We may face shortage in sourcing the raw materials from Andhra, as the new policy encourages setting up new units there," said G Mohanty, former president, SEAI -Odisha.