COOPEXCIL, the Cooperative Sector Exports Promotion Council, organised a fisheries exports promotion workshop under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojna (PMMSY) at Mangalore, Karnataka, on 19 March 2022. NCDC, the apex development finance institution of the central government has steered COOPEXCIL to realize the goal of cooperatives contributing a major share to the GDP of India.

Speaking at the workshop, Sundeep Nayak, managing director of NCDC said that the flagship PMMSY has earmarked an investment of more than Rs.20,000 crore as part of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package. It is estimated that fish production in India would increase to 22 million metric tonnes and fisheries export earnings to reach Rs.1,00,000 crore by 2024-25.

The workshop saw participation of stakeholders from a wide spectrum representing the fishers, cooperative institutions, fish processors, fish exporters, government bodies, academic and research institutions. Sahakar Bharati functionaries also partnered with NCDC in organizing the workshop. Shri Ramesh Vaidya, former national President of Sahakar Bharati lauded the efforts of NCDC in mainstreaming the potential of fisheries cooperatives of the region.