Srinagar, July 28: Jammu and Kashmir has received approval for fisheries and aquaculture projects worth Rs 154.57 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), with a central share of Rs 81.43 crore, according to government data tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday by Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh.
The figures were placed in reply to an unstarred question by Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed, Congress MP from Lakshadweep, who had sought Union Territory-wise details of projects sanctioned, funds allocated and utilised under the scheme over the last five years.
The Minister said PMMSY, in effect since 2020-21, has approved projects worth Rs 1,032.66 crore across seven Union Territories, with a combined central share of Rs 844.37 crore, of which Rs 246.55 crore has been released and Rs 201.57 crore utilised so far.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Rs 154.57 crore project cost is about 15 percent of the national total, the third highest among the seven Union Territories after Puducherry’s Rs 357.19 crore and Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ Rs 280.67 crore. Of the Rs 81.43 crore central share approved for Jammu and Kashmir, Rs 79.61 crore has already been released, a release rate of nearly 98 percent, far higher than any other Union Territory. Of the funds released, Rs 63.44 crore has been utilised so far, a utilisation rate of about 80 percent.
The pace of fund release to Jammu and Kashmir stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the country. Nationally, only about 29 percent of the total central share approved has been released so far, while Jammu and Kashmir alone accounts for nearly a third of all funds released to Union Territories under the scheme. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, by comparison, had received only Rs 20 crore of its Rs 257.16 crore central share, a release rate of under 8 percent.
According to the details of key projects, Jammu and Kashmir’s approved projects include 751 trout raceways, five trout hatcheries, five fish feed mills, 70 fish kiosks, 66 live fish vending centres, 211 three-wheelers with ice boxes, 21 refrigerated vehicles, 64 biofloc units, eight Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS) units and 18 value-added enterprises. The reply said 88,225 fishers in Jammu and Kashmir have been covered under livelihood and nutritional support components of the scheme.
The reply also said a Cold-Water Fisheries Cluster has been notified in Anantnag district under the scheme, aimed at strengthening trout and cold-water fish production infrastructure in the district. Ladakh, the other Union Territory with a cold-water fisheries focus, has similarly seen a Cold-Water Fisheries Cluster notified in Kargil district.
Responding to the part of the question on island Union Territories, the Minister said projects approved for Lakshadweep, worth Rs 71.51 crore, include seaweed culture units, deep sea fishing vessels, ornamental fish units and the development of integrated coastal villages, along with the notification of a Seaweed Cluster.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ approved projects include fish hatcheries, deep sea fishing vessels and the development of a Smart and Integrated Fishing Harbour at Mayabandar, besides the notification of a Tuna Cluster. The Minister said Chandigarh has not taken up any project under PMMSY so far.
