Owing to its massive coastline of over 8,000 km and a vast network of rivers, fisheries have always played a significant role in India’s economy. Currently, this sector provides livelihood to more than 2.8 crore people within the country. Nevertheless, this is a sector with untapped potential. The Economic Survey of India, 2019-20 estimated that, only 58% of the country’s inland potential has been tapped so far. The present budget has taken effective steps towards addressing the challenges and optimizing the potential of this sector.
Despite challenges pertaining to infrastructure, the measures by the Central government in the past six years ensured that fisheries sector continued to register an annual growth rate of more than 10 percent. In 2019-20, with an overall production of 142 lakh tons, India produced 8% of the global share. During the same time period, India’s fisheries exports stood at Rs 46,662 crore, constituting about 18% of India’s agricultural exports.
In keeping with our Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-effective governance of ‘Blue Economy’ would mean striking a balance between effectively utilizing fisheries to meet consumer demands and sustain livelihoods of fishing communities, on the one hand, and preserving the ecosystem, on the other. The Centre through its schemes envisions leveraging an investment of more than Rs. 50,000 crore in the next five years that includes contributions from states, beneficiaries, and financial institutions.
The recently concluded Blue Revolution Scheme launched in 2015-16 with Rs 3000 crore outlay, for over five years, made vital contributions towards the sector’s development. To address the critical gaps in fisheries infrastructure, the government created the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund in 2018-19 with an outlay of Rs. 7,522 crore.
2021 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved.