The 2024 union budget has brought in much cheer for the Indian Seafood industry with the finance minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman making a slew of announcements to further enhance the sectors growth. Marine products exports contribute a significant amount to India’s overall exports. 

Just in the last fiscal (FY 24) India’s seafood industry exported an all-time high volume of 1,781,602 MT of Seafood worth US$ 7.38 Billion. 

The seafood industry is also an important focus sector for the state of Andhra Pradesh as the total export of Frozen Shrimp from Andhra Pradesh constituted 94% by volume and 97.55% by value from AP in FY 24.

“The recent budget announcements are a testament to the government’s unwavering commitment to positioning India as a global leader in seafood exports. 

The proposed measures will substantially lower production costs, elevate quality, and enhance the international competitiveness of Indian marine products” said Mr D V Swamy IAS, Chairman of MPEDA in a statement to Vizag Industrial Scan.

Concurred Mr Pawan Gunturu, President of the seafood exporters Association of India (SEAI) and said ‘We are happy to see the seafood industry get an important mention in the union budget of 2024. The industry overall welcomes the announcements made by the FM for the Indian seafood industry’.

The budget included a range of strategic measures aimed at bolstering the competiti- veness of India’s marine products Sector, with a particular focus on shrimp production and export.

Some of the measures announced in the budget included Financial Support for Shrimp Broodstock Centers. The government has committed to providing substantial financial support to establish a network of Nucleus Breeding Centres (NBCs) for shrimp broodstocks.

‘NBCs are the need of the hour and we are happy to note that the government has taken cognizance of this’ said Mr Gunturu.

This initiative is anticipated to drastically reduce India’s reliance on imported broodstock, potentially saving the industry up to Rs 150 crores annually. 

Hatchery operators are expected to benefit significantly, with projected savings of 50% on broodstock costs. Approximately 1 lakh farmers will benefit from a 30% reduction in shrimp seed costs.

Ms Sitharaman announced that The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will play a crucial role in facilitating financing for shrimp farming, processing, and export. 

This intervention is designed to cover 80% of project costs for farmers, accompanied by an interest subvention of up to 3%. A total of 639 export processing units are expected to benefit from enhanced access to infrastructure development funds, enabling them to improve and expand their facilities through assistance from NABARD. 

In addition, Customs Duty Reductions were announced for Aqua Hatchery; Aqua Farm inputs and Customs duty exemption for key input for Value Addition.

Demand for Agriculture Status

A demand that the seafood industry was hoping would be met with the grant of agriculture status to the Seafood industry. 

‘This would have been a game changer and would benefit both the fisherman and the farmer’ opined Mr Gunturu. He hopes that this demand would soon be fulfilled by the government.

Similarly, he pointed out that the Indian feed production is in surplus and therefore stated that bringing down BCD from 15 to 5% will have to be watched closely by Industry and how this would impact the primary producer i.e. the farmer and industry overall.