By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday said that the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) on Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries provides financial assistance to State Governments/Union Territories (UTs) for development of fisheries including fisheries infrastructures, cold chain and marketing facilities.
Besides, in order to address the infrastructural requirements for fisheries sector, Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Fund (FIDF) with a funds size of Rs 7522.48 crore has been created in the Department of Fisheries. Under the FIDF, the Government of India provides interest subvention upto 3% annually on the loan availed by the eligible entities including State Governments/Union Territories from the Nodal Loaning Entities namely, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and Scheduled Banks. Further, the Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures in fisheries sector are addressed through implementation of Sanitary Import Permit (SIP) regimes for import of fishery products and aquaculture inputs as well as through guidelines for import of fish species in live form.
The CSS and FIDF implemented by the Department of Fisheries encompass supports for development of fisheries sector including cold chain infrastructures facilities like ice plants, cold storages, retail fish markets, mobile/retail fish outlets, fish transport vehicles like refrigerated and insulated trucks for modernizing the fisheries infrastructure.
The CSS also provides financial assistance for strengthening of fisheries institutes under the Department of Fisheries namely (a) Fishery Survey of India (FSI), Mumbai, (b) Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training (CIFNET), Kochi, (c) National Institute of Fisheries Post Harvest Technology and Training (NIFPHATT), Kochi and (d) Central Institute Of Coastal Engineering For Fishery (CICEF), Bangalore, primarily to facilitate development of marine fisheries including capacity and training.
In pursuance of the announcement made in the Union Budget of 2019, the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has formulated a scheme on Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and seeking its approval.
The PMMSY inter alia envisages creation of critical fisheries infrastructure and cold chain facilities in all States/Union Territories to preserve shelf life of fish and reduce its wastage and spoilage. This include construction of cold storages, ice plants, creation of whole sale and retail fish markets, support for acquisition of refrigerated and insulated trucks and live fish vending centres, two and three wheelers vehicles with ice boxes, he added.
