Centre aims at almost doubling seafood exports to $14 billion by 2025

The Centre is aiming at nearly doubling seafood exports to USD 14 billion by 2025, a Union minister said on Wednesday.

Seafood exports are showing a positive trend this fiscal with three per cent growth in volume, she said.

"In 2021-22, the (seafood) exports figure was worth USD 7.76 billion, which was 17 per cent of our agriculture shipments. We have a target to achieve USD 14 billion by 2025," Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said.

She was speaking here at the inauguration of the India International Seafood Show 2023.

India's commitment towards safe and sustainable seafood production for export will lead the way for enhancing foreign direct investment, thereby contributing to the Make in India' initiative, Patel said.

"We are also proceeding in a favourable manner with our Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with different important-export destinations.

"India, today, has become one of the most preferred and one of the very big seafood baskets for the world. We are supplying safe seafood to about 100 countries around the globe. At present, India is among the top five seafood- exporting countries," the minister said.

On use of antibiotics on shrimps for exports to European markets, she said "the matter has been taken up with the concerned authority, and we hope it will be resolved soon.

Patel also said the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) will organise a conference on harmonisation of regulations for seafood among the G20 countries, in Delhi in the second half of 2023.