New Delhi, Aug 24 (Mayank Nigam) The government safeguarded the interests of the country’s marine farmers even in the last round of WTO discussions, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. India is working towards realising marine exports worth Rs one lakh crore by 2025, Goyal revealed at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel, a release said. In his video speech at Grand Hyatt in Bolgatty Island here, Goyal made four proposals for a comprehensive development of marine resources in the country.
Locate 20 markets for items that comprise 90 per cent of the exports, chart out marine products development projects in consultation with state administrations, aim for exports worth 20 billion dollars in the next five years and launch awareness programmes that would guard marine products from antibiotics and pathogens, Minister Patel released LegaSea, a coffee-table book at the function to mark MPEDA’s completion of 50 years. Noting that the vannamei variety of shrimp will bring in two lakh more farmers from across the country, Goyal said “this would bring in an 18 per cent rise in annual marine production, taking its measure to 12 lakh tonnes.” He hailed MPEDA’s role in enabling India to make a quantum leap in global rankings from the 13th to the fourth position during the last decade. The government is implementing prompt measures in coordination with all pertinent departments to ensure that India’s income from marine exports hits Rs one lakh-crore within three years. “We are making efforts to boost the exports through our embassies abroad. Our target is to contribute 10 per cent of the global exports in the marine products sector,” he said.
Pointing out that all foreign markets have gone stricter on inspection of marine products in the post-Covid era, the Minister said it has become 100 per cent for vannamei shrimps in Japan. Presence of antibiotics in the products is a major issue in EU countries, America, Australia, Korea and Thailand, he added. Minister Patel, in her online address, said MPEDA has been adopting top-rate checking systems as part of its creative strategy to overcome such issues. Noting that the future holds “very bright” for seafood owing to its rising domestic consumption and increasing demand the world over, she said, its health benefits are immense. “Thus the consumption pattern of the world population is shifting towards seafood,” she added. Hibi Eden, MP, said marine products make stupendous contributions towards India’s exports, and called for better livelihood care of the country’s fish workers who play a crucial role in the marine sector. MPEDA Chairman Mr Dodda Venkata Swamy, welcoming the gathering, said the organisation is making coordinated efforts to form a chain that would guarantee sustainability and high quality of seafood.
Overlapping with the country’s 75th Independence Day festivities under Azadika AmritMahotsav, Wednesday’s event was addressed by MPEDA’s former heads Mr T.K.A Nair (ex-Principal Secretary & Advisor to Prime Minister), K.B. Pillai and Ms Leena Nair, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Chairman Mr Paul Antony (Kerala’s former Chief Secretary), MPEDA ex-Chairman Mr A. Jayathilak (Additional Chief Secretary) and Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) National President Mr Jagadish Fofandi. The function also saw the distribution of the MPEDA Export Awards for Outstanding Performance (2019-20 and 2020-21) under seven categories. These went to the best manufacturer exporters of marine products based on an offline selection mode. A cultural programme by MPEDA members and their families followed. MPEDA, founded in 1972 as a statutory body of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has taken India’s marine exports to 1.4 million tonnes (Rs 57,586 crore) as against 35,523 tonnes in the year of inception.