Mumbai, Feb 9 (IANS) About 4.76 lakh Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) have been issued and Rs 3,214.32 crore disbursed under fisheries lending schemes (as of June 2025), and over Rs 13,000 crore loans have been approved for the fisheries sector under various schemes, the government said on Monday.

Under the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund, 178 proposals for financing worth over Rs 6,369 crore loans were approved as of July 2025, an official statement said.

The KCC for Fisheries, introduced in 2018–19, remains the primary short‑term credit instrument, with loans carrying a 7 per cent interest rate that falls to 4 per cent on timely repayment.

The Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund, with a corpus of Rs 7,522.48 crore and validity extended to March 2026, offers 3 per cent interest subvention.

To further de‑risk lending by banks, a Rs 750 crore Credit Guarantee Fund managed by ‘NABSanrakshan’ covers collateral‑free loans up to Rs 12.5 crore, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said in a statement.

The National Fisheries Digital Platform has onboarded 12 nationalised banks, processed thousands of applications and enabled remote loan requests where over 19,000 beneficiaries have applied, with 350 approvals and disbursements ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 5 crore.

Fish production reached an all-time high of 197 lakh tonnes in FY 2024–25, nearly doubling from 95.79 lakh tonnes in 2013–14.

The government aims for 220 lakh tonnes by FY26, supporting about three crore livelihoods and in FY25 the exports of Rs 62,408 crore, with frozen shrimp as the major commodity and the United States and China as key markets, the statement said.

The sector contributes 7.26 per cent to agricultural GVA, and policy measures such as the GST reduction on key fish products from 12 per cent to 5 per cent have improved both domestic consumption and international competitiveness.

–IANS

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