PRADHAN MANTRI MATSYA KISAN SAMRIDHI SAH-YOJANA

Posted 15 Mar 2024

4 min read

Why in the news?

The Union Cabinet approved the “Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY)”.

About the Scheme

Central Sector Sub-scheme: The scheme is under the Central Sector Component of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada (PMMS).
Objectives:
- Gradual formalization of the unorganised fisheries sector.
- Facilitating institutional finance to fisheries sector micro and small enterprises.
- Providing a one-time incentive to beneficiaries for purchasing aquaculture insurance.
- Incentivizing for improving fisheries sector value-chain efficiencies.
- Incentivizing for adoption and expansion of fish and fishery product safety and quality assurance systems.
Funding: Total outlay of 6000 crore rupees, of which-
- 50% will come from public finance including the World Bank and the AFD (French Development Agency) external financing and,
- 50 % will be contributed by the beneficiaries from the private sector.
Duration: The scheme will be implemented for 4 years from FY 2023-24 to FY 2026-27 across all the States and UTs.

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (2020)

It aims to bring Blue Revolution through sustainable, responsible and holistic development of fisheries sector including welfare of fish farmers.
The PMMSY is an umbrella scheme with two separate components:
- Central Sector Scheme: The entire project/unit cost will be borne by the Central government (i.e. 100% central funding).
- Centrally Sponsored Scheme: The entire project/unit cost will be shared between Centre and State.
It is being implemented in all the States and Union Territories for a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 with investment of Rs. 20,050 crore.
Targets of PMMSY:
- Increasing fish production to 22 million metric tons by 2024-25 from 13.75 million metric tons in 2018-19.
- Increasing contribution of fisheries sector to the Agriculture GVA to about 9% by 2024-25 from 7.28% in 2018-19.
Doubling export earnings to Rs.1,00,000 crores by 2024-25 from Rs.46,589 crores in 2018-19.

Implementation Strategy of PM-MKSSY

Component 1-A: Formalization of the fisheries sector and facilitating access of fisheries microenterprises to Government of India programs for the financing of working capital.
- National Fisheries Digital Platform (NFDP) will be created and all the stakeholders will be mobilized to register on it.
  - The NFDP will serve multiple functions including disbursement of financial incentives.
Component 1-B: Facilitating the adoption of aquaculture insurance: It is proposed to facilitate the creation of appropriate insurance products and to cover at least 1 lakh hectares of aquaculture farms.
- SCs, STs and Women beneficiaries would be provided an additional incentive @ 10% of the incentive payable for General Categories.
Component-2: Supporting microenterprises to improve fisheries sector value chain efficiencies.
Component-3: Facilitating Adoption and expansion of fish and fishery product safety and quality assurance systems.
Component-4: Project management, monitoring, and reporting: It is proposed to set up Project Management Units (PMUs) to manage, implement, monitor, and evaluate project activities.

Significance of the scheme

Formalization of the fisheries sector: It will support 6.4 lakh micro-enterprises and 5,500 fisheries cooperatives, providing access to institutional credit.
National Fisheries Digital Platform: It is estimated to provide 40 lakh small and micro-enterprises work-based identities.
Focuses on improving value chain efficiency and ensuring safe, quality fish by supporting 55,000 targeted micro and small enterprises.
Job Creation: It is projected to create 1.7 lakh new jobs, with a special emphasis on employing 75,000 women.
- Also aims to generate 5.4 lakh continued employment opportunities in the micro and small enterprises value chain.
Other: Facilitate Ease of Doing Business, increase incomes, enhance export competitiveness, address issues of aquaculture crop losses due to disease through insurance coverage etc.

Conclusion

The fisheries sector is a sunrise sector and has shown remarkable growth in recent years. However, it has yet to realize its potential. Considering the huge scope for domestic consumption, export potential and greater economic returns, the sector warrants strong and sustained policy support.