Govt Plans New Initiatives To Strengthen India’s Seafood Export Ecosystem

New Delhi, May 15 (KNN) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh held a high-level meeting to discuss strategies for accelerating the growth of India’s seafood sector and strengthening the country’s global export competitiveness.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Department of Commerce, Department of Fisheries, Marine Products Export Development Authority, DPIIT and the Export Inspection Council.

The discussions focused on aligning seafood export promotion activities with the objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and related schemes through coordinated efforts on value addition, infrastructure development, product diversification and quality assurance.

As part of the initiative, the Centre will organise a two-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Visakhapatnam on June 5-6 with participation from government departments, exporters, startups, fishers, farmers and industry stakeholders.

The government is also exploring the development of a dedicated Production Linked Incentive (PLI) framework for MSMEs in the seafood sector to encourage value-added exports, improve global competitiveness and support technology adoption and research activities.

According to the Ministries, the proposed initiative aims to increase the number of seafood exporters from around 1,200 currently to nearly 5,000 over the coming years while enhancing India’s share in global seafood value chains.

Special focus will be placed on development of the tuna sector in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep through sustainable harvesting, processing, branding and export promotion measures.

The Department of Fisheries and MPEDA will also organise international trade delegations to expand market access and strengthen trade partnerships for Indian seafood products.

The meeting additionally emphasised strengthening sanitary and phytosanitary compliance, traceability systems, food safety standards and disease-free aquaculture zones to meet global export requirements.

Laboratory infrastructure across states and Union Territories will be upgraded to improve testing, certification and export compliance capabilities, particularly in island regions.

The Ministries also discussed scaling up MPEDA’s pilot initiative for collection and recycling of marine plastic waste in partnership with fishers across coastal states and Union Territories to support marine conservation and sustainable fisheries practices.

Officials said the initiatives are aimed at transforming India into a leading global seafood export hub while supporting employment generation, higher incomes for fishers and the broader growth of the country’s blue economy.

(KNN Bureau)