New Delhi, Sep 24 (KNN) After the announcement that the marine products would get benefits under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said agencies for aquaculture and fisheries would be set up in all coastal states.

While addressing at a high-profile international seafood conference in Visakhapatnam on Friday, Sitharaman announced a raft of measures for the marine sector.

Under the MEIS, the government currently allocates Rs 22,000 crore annually for exports.

“From this financial year onwards, an additional Rs 1500 crore will be allocated under the scheme that will include certain marine and seafood items,” Sitharaman said.

The agencies for aquaculture and fisheries, under the guidance of the chief ministers and headed by their chief secretaries, will be under the aegis of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the nodal body for marine exports under the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry.

Voicing concern, she said that despite being a major producer, India’s seafood industry has a long way to go in fully tapping the potential for value addition.

“I held discussions with trade ministers from Japan and South Korea recently and they have expressed interest in collaborating with India for development of aquaculture,” she added.

Sitharman also called upon MPEDA to play a key role in bringing in the best industry practices from around the globe to accelerate the growth of the seafood industry.

Expressing his government’s determination to make Andhra Pradesh the ‘Aquaculture Hub’ not only of India but also of the world, N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of AP said the state accounted for over 45 per cent of India’s cultured shrimp exports during 2015-16. “We expect to touch a target of 70 per cent over the next few years,” he added.

Stressing the need for controlling diseases in farmed shrimps, Naidu said his government has set up a Task Force to set up state of the art laboratories in this regard. (KNN Bureau)