KENDRAPARA: Seafood exporters of Odisha hope to earn extra after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the discount of customs responsibility on shrimp feed to advertise exports in her Price range speech on Wednesday.
“The discount of customs responsibility on shrimp feed will increase the revenue of the seafood exporters of the state. In 2021-22, seafood, largely shrimps price Rs 4,560 crore was exported from the state to many international locations. We used to earn USD $7 USD by exporting a kg of shrimp. Owing to the discount in customs responsibility on shrimp feed, our earnings will enhance by 2 to 2.5 per cent,” mentioned the managing director of Odisha Aqua Merchants and Marine Exporters Pvt Ltd Manoranjan Kumar Patra.
Seafood exporters and shrimp farmers import round 50 per cent of shrimp feed and fish meal from different international locations. Aside from aquaculture corporations, shrimp farmers, fishermen, trawler homeowners and different employees will earn extra as a result of discount in customs responsibility on key inputs for producing shrimp.
With a shoreline of 480 km, Odisha has huge fishery sources however solely a fraction of it has been exploited up to now. Shrimp is without doubt one of the greatest export earners for the state. Industrial shrimp farming has develop into an important a part of the economic system of the 9 coastal districts of the state together with Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur.
Round 90 per cent of seafood exported from the state is shrimp. The discount in customs responsibility on seafood feed will present extra jobs to individuals. Alternatively, the launch of a brand new scheme beneath PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with a focused funding of Rs 6,000 crore has been welcomed by the Odisha Conventional Fish Employees’ Union (OTFWU). The sub-scheme would allow actions for fishermen, distributors and small and mid-sized enterprise (SME) distributors whereas additionally serving to them develop markets.
‘The fisheries division ought to use the cash to offer correct and hygienic fish markets and merchandising zones for the standard fishermen, mentioned Prasanna Behera the president of OTFWU.
