Fisheries Sector Gets Rs 39,272 Crore Push for Value Addition

India's fish economy is being pushed past the catch itself. In a review issued on 30 October 2026, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying set out how the sector is turning from a production-led activity into a market-facing and technology-led limb of the national economy, with value addition at the centre of the change. The sector, the Ministry noted, already carries weight in food and nutritional security, in jobs, in rural livelihoods and in export earnings.

Technology on the boats and in the cold stores

Enterprises in the trade are picking up precision aquaculture, drones, blockchain, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and smart cold-chain systems. The aim behind all of them is the same: better traceability, higher output, assured quality and tighter handling of the catch after it is landed. Losses fall, margins rise and the chain from pond to plate holds together. Value addition itself means processing, packing and branding fish so that it reaches the buyer ready to cook or ready to eat, which fetches the producer a better price, stretches shelf life and opens work for fishers, fish farmers, women's groups, youth, cooperatives and small units.

What the public money has bought

Since 2015 the Government of India has committed Rs 39,272 crore to the sector through the Blue Revolution Scheme, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF), the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Samridhi Sah Yojana (PM-MKSSY) and the Kisan Credit Card (KCC), reaching 74.66 lakh fishers and fish farmers.

The 46,500 facilities added cover fish transport systems, wholesale and retail markets, kiosks, feed mills, ice plants, cold stores and value-added units. Five modern smart markets are being built with advanced IT systems, green technology and logistics links.

Better seed, stronger collectives, women in front

To keep premium chains supplied, the Department is working on genetic improvement for faster growth, disease resistance and higher yield in species such as shrimp, trout, scampi, seabass, tilapia, pangasius, catla and rohu. On the institutional side, 2,195 Fisheries Farmer Producer Organizations have been formed, several of them linked to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), while 5,500 fisheries cooperatives are being built up as FFPOs under PM-MKSSY with NCDC, NAFED, SFAC and NERAMAC. For women, PMMSY has cleared projects worth more than Rs 4,155 crore, of which the central share is Rs 1,572 crore, over the last five years, benefiting more than 1.28 lakh women. Their work ranges from drying fish and making pickle and papad to smoked products, fish powder, packing, retailing and mobile vending units.