Cabinet okays Rs 6,000 crore scheme for formalisation of fisheries sector

The Union Cabinet today approved a Rs 6,000 crore sub-scheme under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) with the objective of formalising the largely unorganised fisheries sector in the country.

The formalisation will be done through the creation of a national fisheries digital platform, facilitating access to institutional finance for the sector and creating an insurance product which would cover at least 100,000 hectares of aquaculture farms during the project period.

Almost half of the total project cost, that is around Rs 3,000 crore, will come from public financing that includes World Bank and the AFD external financing while the balance is expected investment from the private sector and the beneficiaries.

The scheme will run for four years starting from FY-24, incentivising fisheries and aquaculture microenterprises through performance grants for improving fisheries sector value-chain efficiencies including creation and maintenance of jobs, and incentivising micro and small enterprises through performance grants for adoption and expansion of fish and fishery product safety are the other main objectives of the programme.

Further, on insurance, the scheme proposed a one-time incentive to the willing farmers against purchase of insurance with a farm size of four hectares of water spread area and less.

“The 'one-time incentive' will be at the rate of 40 per cent of the cost of premium subject to a limit of Rs 25,000 per hectare of water spread area of the aquaculture farm,” an official statement said.