Union Budget to Boost AP’s Aqua Sector, Say Breeders

Kakinada: The Union Budget introduced on Monday will give a boost to the aqua sector, whose turnover in India reached ₹60,000 crore during the last financial year.

Most of the aqua farms are in Andhra Pradesh. Aqua sector-related associations and hatcheries have been demanding that the central government encourage the country’s aqua sector by reducing import duties and setting up nucleus breeding centres.

In response, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has given several incentives to the sector, including reducing tax on certain brood stock, polychaete worms, shrimp and fish feed to 5 per cent and exempting customs duty on various inputs for manufacture of shrimp and fish feed.

Import tax on Artemia feed has been fully exempted, tax on brood stock has been reduced to 5 per cent from 10 per cent, and tax on brood-stock feed has been reduced to 5 per cent from 30 per cent.

At present, aqua firms and hatchery units are importing brood stock from the US and other countries. Now, the union government proposes to set up nucleus breeding centres, so that aqua farmers and hatchery units need not import this input.

Anand group chairman U. Viswanath Raju expects that nearly 50 per cent of expenses can be saved for this proposal.

All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association president Ravikumar Yellanki said the incentives will reduce cost of production drastically, though setting up of nucleus breeding centres and availability of brood stock will take two years.

Association’s former president L. Satyanarayan (Tikku) said the budget has given good incentives to the aqua and hatcheries sectors.

An aqua farmer feels these incentives have come rather late, as aqua exports have been dwindling in recent years. The farmer, however, conceded that the present budget will give some relief to the sector.