India has a big plan to double marine product exports to Rs. 1 lakh crore in the next five years, from the current, which is around Rs. 50,000 crores.
The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal, stated that this target will be achieved through sustainable fishing, ensuring quality and variety, promotion of coastal shipping and aquaculture, and by supporting the entire fishing ecosystem.
Goyal highlighted the fact that free trade agreements have been finalised with the UAE and Australia, while negotiations are in progress for such an agreement with the UK and Canada. While negotiations to reach an FTA with the EU will begin in Brussels on the 17th of this month, the Minister interacted with various seafood exporters’ associations of India (SEAI) at MPEDA and had a deep discussion on various issues, challenges, and solutions facing the sector. He also met with fishermen from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karnataka, and has assured to minimise interventions and hurdles on the import of raw materials for value addition so that India can be transformed into a seafood processing hub in the near future.