In order to boost marine product exports, the Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has extended support to certain new products and enhanced a rate of incentives under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), which includes establishing agencies in all coastal states for aquaculture and fisheries and export incentives for marine products.
The government currently allocates Rs 22,000 crore yearly for exports under the MEIS, from the current fiscal onwards additional amount of Rs 1,500 crore has been announced to be included that will include certain marine and seafood items. Sitharaman said that despite being a major producer, the country’s seafood industry has to go a long way in utilising its full potential for value addition.
She further said that the agencies for aquaculture and fisheries, under the guidance of the chief ministers and led by the chief secretaries of the states, will be under the aegis of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the nodal body for marine exports under the ministry.
Recently, the minister had held discussions with trade ministers from Japan and South Korea and they have expressed interest in collaborating with India for development of aquaculture and hoped that MPEDA would play a major role for bringing the best practices of industry from around the world in order to speed up the growth of the country’s seafood industry.