Five major fishing harbours will see substantial investments for modernisation and development, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech on Monday.
“To start with, five major fishing harbours — Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Petuaghat — will be developed as hubs of economic activity,” she said. “We will also develop inland fishing harbours and fish-landing centres along the banks of rivers and waterways,” she added.
Emerging sector
Ms. Sitharaman announced measures to promote seaweed cultivation. “Seaweed farming is an emerging sector with potential to transform the lives of coastal communities. It will provide large scale employment and additional incomes,” she said. “To promote seaweed cultivation, I propose a Multipurpose Seaweed Park to be established in Tamil Nadu,” she added.
Overall, the Fisheries department saw an increase in budget allocations from ₹825 crore in 2020-21 to ₹1,220 crore in 2021-22. The Blue Revolution centrally sponsored schemes saw their budget allocation double, with the new Pradhan Mantri Matsya Samada Yojana alone getting a ₹1,000 crore allocation.
